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pierreo August 15th, 2010

 On Monday, I met Rob, Zuzana, Machteld and Filip. We are part of the crew going sailing this week-end and this is the one and only meeting for us to organise the outing.

On Thurs, Rob is enthusiastic about the week end, where we are going and the weather – here is the note that he sent out (the underlines are mine):

“All,

As we get closer to leaving, the forecast is looking good for Sunday, but a
little more unsettled on Saturday.  Depending on which weather forecast I
look at, I would summarise the current position as:

Wind force 3-4 SW going W on Sunday
Chance of showers on Saturday, with some maybe harder.  Looks like the
weather will get better during the day as a low front passes away.

Looking further at locations, if we cannot get to Gravelines on Saturday
night, I think that Dunkerque may be a good option.  There are a number of
marinas open to all states of tide, and (at least from the websites) looks
quite pretty.  I will do some more research tonight.

Don’t forget to bring enough dry clothes.  See you all tomorrow evening. “

It turns out that this weather forecast was not far from the truth – the problem will be the direction in which reality will deviate from forecast. But once again I am getting ahead of my story.

We left for Zeebrugge on the Friday evening after work. Rob was driving and I was navigating. We did not have too many problems with traffic until we came close to Gent where we lost about ½ hour because of road works. We arrived at the boat and Machteld and Harry were already there. Zuzana and Filip arrived soon after and so we started organising food, drinks, personal stuff etc. It always takes quite some time to checkout the boat too, and do a full inventory so that we know where everything is.

For this week-end, out home will be Swing, a 37 ft Jeanneau from Channel Sailing. I have sailed on her sister ship, Foxtrot, last year and I know she is a good boat. Annemie arrives later – she was stuck in the office later than anticipated, and so with a full crew, we decided to have dinner at a local restaurant at about 21:00.

When we get back the the boat, there is an annoying alarm and we do not quite understand what it is for. We are able to silence it, and since it is late, we decide to deal with it tomorrow.

By 6:00, most of us are already up and eager to get started. The weather looks great and I decide to wear normal clothes to start: long pants, warm shirt, sweater and a windbreaker vest. It may seem like a lot for the middle of summer, but with the wind and the cold water, it is just right. The wind feels like a good force 5, or somewhere around 20 knotts (about 35 km/h).

Since the alarm is still on, we call Carlos to discuss what to do. He indicates that this is because the second battery is running low on power. We figure that as soon as we turn on the engine, it will recharge and the alarm will clear – nothing to worry about.

We leave our mooring a little after 7:00 and start motoring towards the mouth of the harbour. It is a rather long way in Zeebrugge and after 20 minutes, I call Port Control to get permission to get out – it is granted immediately.

Unfortunately, we discover that Battery 2 is still not charging and therefore we are not able to clear the alarm. This could be a problem as it is already low and all the electronics on board run off that one battery. We decide to go on, thinking that we will figure out a solution later.

Once outside the harbour entrance, we raise full sail and shut down the engine.  The wind continues at about 20 knotts in a Southerly direction. Since we needed to go South West, we were beating as close to the wind as possible, doing a good 5 to 5.5 knotts with a slight tide against us. We take turns at the wheel, changing about every hour or so. Most people have done it before so it goes without problems.  Here is Harry at work, while the rest of the crew relaxes.

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pierreo April 4th, 2010

After Laos (I will cover that trip later), I spent 10 days in Singapore.  I realized as I was there that this is the first time that I am visiting Singapore – all my other stays were either on business, or because I was living there.  For the first time, I was a tourist, and I acted like one…

On the Saturday, I was lucky to be able to attend the EM Dragon Boat Carnival, an annual affair that has been growing each event.  There were over 80 teams entered this year.

From the start

To the finish

All teams worked really hard to do the best they could.

For me, this was an opportunity to see a lot of my friends and I spent most of the time walking around from one team to another reminiscing…  The weather was not very good that day.  As a matter of fact, it rained most of the time.  I decided to leave after the inter-site race, which was fortunately scheduled early this year.  Chemical won again, proving that last year was no fluke!

On the Sunday, things were more serious for me.  The main reason for this whole trip was the Aviva ½ Ironman to be held once again on the East Coast.  For Richard and I, this would be our fourth participation – Dave had done the last two with us and therefore he will be doing his third.  I left the hotel very early (around 5 AM) as I was awake anyway. 

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pierreo November 16th, 2009

This is long overdue … and there are tww reasons for it: (1) I have been very busy and (2) it is both a pleasant and a tough experience for me to go over that day.

A week before I left Singapore, Papillon and Friends organised a party for me at my favorite beer joint – however, they were able to find a branch I had not visited yet.  We got together at the Breweks on Bukit Timah, not far from Sixth Avenue.  It is smaller than their place across from Clark Key and so more intimate – we had about half the place to ourselves.  I decided to take a taxi so I would not have to worry about how to get home.

A few guests were there already when I arrived.  Here Freddy (main organiser and much much more) and Hans.

People kept on trickling in little by little – Wong and Vincent soon arrived – Vincent is the “godfather” of Dragon Boat

and Christie and William – I hope you realise how unusual it is to see Christie with a beer – and she did it just for me!

soon too many to name … but I will still try – added are Ben (actually behind the camera for most of the pictures…), Dennis, Jessica, and Su Li

We had beer (of course) and food with more people showing up

I did mention beer didn’t I …

We even had an uninvited guest – I have no idea who is the person in front of Freddy – he just showed up for the pictures….  Then is was time for dessert

and speeches, and more speeches, and prizes – I received an unexpected gift from Brewerks, a very nice polo shirt given to me by their branch manager

and one from Papillon – this is the back side of it – notice how Ben was able to catch my better side in his sketch…

I did mention beer, right? The girls …. and Hans (why?) and the front of the frame, with an actual rowing shirt for the 2009 season which I will miss.

and the boys …

and the whole gang …

I am so glad I did not have to drive home after that!

Thanks to all for a wonderful time, and not just the party, but … you know what I mean!

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pierreo March 26th, 2009

The 1/2 Ironman Triathlon was earlier than the previous years – March instead of September.

Once again, we entered Tri50+ with myself doing the swim (1.9 km), Richard doing the cycling (90 km) and David doing the run (21 km). We were disappointed with our time and position last year so we were determined to do better, even though the obligations at work did not always give us all the opportunities we would have liked to train and both David and I had to travel just before the race.

My day began at 4:30 AM when I woke up and finished well past midnight when I finally could go to sleep in the airplane taking me to Paris.  Everything was ready so all I had to do is get dressed, collect my bag and leave for the East Coast Park where the event will take place.  Since I had not looked at the set-up on Saturday, I spent the first few minutes just orienting myself, particularly for the return from the swim to the cycle.  They had changed the transition area and therefore I wanted to make sure that I knew where everything was.

At 6AM I got my numbers (they always paint numbers on your arms so that they can identify the bodies that they recover in Indonesia after the race – just kidding…) and than ran into Richard and Donald – Donald is once again doing the full triathlon on his own.  Richard got his arm “tatoo’ed” as well even though there was limited risk of him getting lost at sea.

By 7 AM all was set and we listened to the final race briefing. At 7:15, the elite athletes (man and women) left and 5 minutes later, all ladies amateur athletes were given the start.  I was in the third wave, all teams plus men 18-24 and 50+. 

The start of the swim was tougher than usual as I was not able to get to the front and I was therefore stuck in a washing machines of arms, legs, knees and elbows for about 200 m.  I discovered immediately that there was a significant current that would actually be in my favour for the  outward leg, but dead against me heading home. My first lap was OK – I felt good and was passing as many people as were passing me.  However, the very short run on the beach between the first and second lap really got to me.  It was good that David was there to encourage me loudly, but I still do not like running in soft sand.  I had to slow down at the beginning of the second lap to recover.  Fortunately, I could once again count on the current, even stronger now, to take me to the turning point.

The way back was very tough.  I was barely moving against the current.  I had to swim as hard as I could just to gain a little bit and it seemed to take forever.  I passed a few swimmers who must have been moving backwards.  Finally, I reached the last marker and I could turn toward the beach and the final run to the transition area.  Out of the water and an easy jog up the path toward HOME – I do not want a repeat of last year when I tore a muscle at this stage.  Richard is waiting for me at the transition, takes the timing chip and leaves on his bike – I am spent, but David is there to lift my spirits.

After 50 minutes, Richard is back at the end of his first 30 km lap.

We see several cyclists changing tyres because of punctures and two of the elite athletes quit the race because of punctures – one pulled a large thumb tack from his tyre in disgust.  After another 50 minutes, Richard is back and starts his last lap.

You can see one rider fixing his tyre behind Richard on this shot…

And now, all we can do is wait.  Several other ‘runners’ are also waiting for their ‘cyclist’ to return and we chat.  Some people are trying to concentrate on their own – the transition area is somewhat of a mess as every athlete has a lot of gear to support such a long race.  There are very few bicycles at this time – most people are still in the cycling leg.

After 45 minutes since his last passage, David is ready for the run – but no Richard.  50, than 55 minutes pass and still no Richard.  He finally arrives, I grab his bicycle and David grabed the timing chip and he is off on the last leg.  Richard tells me that he too had a puncture, also a thumb tack.  Where he stopped there were several other people actually fixing their tyres, as if some one had intentionally thrown tacks on the road to disrupt the race – who would do such a thing?  Richard is very tired too, but recovers fast.

Richard and I watch David running up and down for his three laps – he is keeping up with the two teams in front of him and staying away from the team behind him – keeping position.  Here he is in the middle of the first lap

He still looks good at the middle of the race

He started to struggle during the last lap but still finished with a faster time than last year.  I estimate that there are about a dozen teams in front of us, much better than last year when we finished 29th overall.

You have to remember when looking at the clock that we left 15 minutes after the top athletes and therefore our time is only about 5h34m50s, a decent time. We are all exhausted at the end of the race.  We get our finisher’s medals, and we are off to freshen up and recover at home.  I still need to pack for my trip!

At about 5PM I get an SMS from Richard that says: “We came 2cnd. Well Done!”  I was  not quite sure what he meant.  So I sent a message asking if we are 2nd? Must be in Men’s category.  And Richard confirmed that we were indeed Second and that we would be getting trophies!  We were 10th overall, so were actually beaten by 7 mixed and 1 ladies teams.  It is a mixed team who took the overall victory for teams, about 20 minutes faster than us.

Here are the trophies that Audrey was kind enough to pick up for us – I have not seen them yet, other than this picture. Those of you who know can recognise the road in the background.

Another wonderful experience…

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pierreo March 15th, 2009

It appears that I have a lot to catch up on to let you know what I have been doing up to the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009.
I will do this in two installments – one that I will call ‘before Myanmar or AM (Ante Myanmar)’ and another that will be called ‘after Myanmar or PM (Post Myanmar)’ but please do not hold me to that as I have no ideas how much effort either of those will take.
Here goes PM…
In November, my team and many others participated in the annual Singapore Regatta, right in the heart of the business district on the Singapore River. Several thousand participants row at this regatta every year and it is one of the toughest of the year. For the first time, there was a Corporate Mixed division and therefore Papillon hoped to do well.
I really enjoy this event because of the atmosphere.  This event is run right in the heart of the business district, along the Singapore River.

The boat in the foreground is Papillon getting ready for our heat.  We were against tough opposition, with OCBC, HSBC and RBS teams in our heat. We had to come in first or second to be sure to move into the semi-finals.
I am almost embarrassed to show this picture – look carefully at the right and left side rowers in boat 2 … maybe this is part of the reason why we only came in third behind OCBC and HSBC.

As always, there are plenty of cheers after the race as we pass in front of the EM Tent.

Our time was still good enough to get us into the semi-finals – actually, our heat seemed to be one of the fastest and therefore we had the sixth fastest time of all the heats.
The other EM teams did equally well and therefore we had 4 teams in the semis with the ladies qualifying directly for the final – a big crowd still on Sunday.  Here is the whole ‘family’…

There is always a lot of waiting in between races.  An opportunity to look around at all the other teams participating – in this event there are more than 300 teams registered and with either 10 or 20 rowers per team, this means 4000-5000 participants!  Each team, or organisation has staked out their patch of land for gear, warm up etc … You can tell Christmas is coming too.

Our team is in good spirits since we know we get to come back on Sunday for the semis.

A lot of the racing is very competitive, much more so than in previous years where the heats had sometimes significant distances between finishers.  In this case, you almost need a photo (which they have) to determine who was in what position.

The energy and the close fighting can be seen on the face of these teams, even the drummer and the coxswain are fully engaged.  And you know there is a lot at stake when you see the fans (actually rowers from the same team but in other divisions) running along in the background to cheer their team on.

For some reason, on Sunday we are again drawn against OCBC in the semi-final. We also have to contend with Citibank, always a very strong team.

We do well and finish second, just behind OCBC.  We have to depend on timing to see if we qualify for the final, but the other two semi-finals are quicker than ours and therefore we are eliminated.

The men’s teams have better success and make it to the final. The first few strokes of “Ace” are quite impressive…

     Attention! (Ready)

     stroke 1

     stroke 2!

and are sufficient to carry them to second place behind HP.  The Lillies finished 5th in the ladies finals and OCBC won the Mixed final (some how the teams which had gone 3 to 4 seconds faster than OCBC and us in the semis could not do it again and lost by over a second…)
At the end, we all celebrated with a good lunch (at 3PM – you have to learn to be flexible with meal times) and a team photo in front of more Christmas Decorations.

A fun time was had by all!
In early December, I did a quick trip to Koh Samui in Thailand.  An opportunity to do several dives but also rest and pamper myself in a very nice resort.  Koh Samui is very much like Phuket – very touristy but still interesting and I did get very good food.
I celebrated New Year in Seoul, South Korea.  Actually flew there on 31 December.  I had upgraded my ticket to business class, and I was the only one in the cabin!  I had my “personal” stewardess for the 5 hour flight.
I went to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace which has an impressive gate

Unfortunately there was an even more impressive outer gate called Gwanhwamun – it burned down a few years ago (in 2006 I believe) as a result of arson.  It is now being rebuilt so I did not get to see anything.
The palace itself is very impressive – similar layout to the Forbidden City in Beijing, with a “Hall of Preserving Harmony”

that includes the royal throne

We had an excellent local guide in local costume – but you can see that it was quite cold that day (and the whole time I was in Korea, with temperatures typically hovering between -5 and -10 C)

The next day I went to the Korean Folk Village, about 1 hour by train from the center of Seoul + 30 minutes by bus.  I was glad that there were some people speaking English to help me out with transportation.  A saw some typical Korean Dances

Girls playing on a teeter-totter

A very popular tight rope walker

And very unhappy ducks on ice

The last day I went to Panmunjong with the USO.  If you do not know, the two Koreas are still officially at war.  There has been a truce signed many years ago, but no armistice.  The two countries are separated by a 4 mile wide Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ and the only ‘common’ ground are the barracks at Panmunjon where the truce was signed and where there are still occasional meetings between the two sides.  There are United Nations troops (mostly Americans but I did find out that there were Belgian troops and officers as well) still stationed just outside the DMZ.
The bus dropped us off at Camp Bonifas where we boarded a “secured” bus to go in the DMZ.

The sign says it all: “United Nations Command Security Battalion – Camp Bonifas – In front of them all”.  We were not allowed to take pictures in the DMX until we arrived at Panmunjon so I had to go to Google Earth to give you a perspective of where we were.  First, the view of the land between Camp Bonifas and Panmunjon

There is a small village located on the South Korean side of the DMZ.  It can only be occupied by people who lived there at the beginning of the war, or their relatives and they are allowed to farm areas in the DMZ.  They have a strict curfew and have to be at home every night before 10PM
Here an overhead view of Panmunjon itself

I think everyone will recognise the blue buildings in this shot and the next one.  South Korean guards in the foreground (these guards need to be 6 feet tall minimum and only Koreans get the job) and NorthKorean soldiers in the background.  The actual border is the raised concrete plinth just in front of the North Koreans.

I was told that the soldiers only come out for “our protection” – when there are no visitors, they go away.  We also visited the room where delegations from South and North Korea meet on occasions – there was a significant thawing of the relationship a few years ago, but all that went away recently and they have not met in several years.  In this room, I was able to cross the border and walk 3 meters into North Korea.  Here too, we were well protected.

We also went to one of the outlying guard posts for a better view of the North Korean side of the DMZ.  Here is the other village located in the DMZ, on the North Korean side.  It has the largest flag pole and largest flag in the world.  The village is empty of citizens.

It was a very quick visit to Korean, but I really enjoyed it.

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pierreo March 7th, 2009

A busy end to the month of February …

On Saturday, 21/2, we had our last practice for the EM Dragon Boat Carnival.  There are three teams representing SPT (the project I am working on) and 66 teams total, all from EM, entered into this competition.  Two teams (SPT Long Chuan and SPT Dragoneers) practiced together, and raced against each other, just to see where we stood

 photo by Freddy

This is taken before the second mock race.  We did not look this good after a second all out effort.

On Sunday 22/2, I was up early (like 5AM), had a quick and light breakfast, grabbed the bag I had packed the night before and took my bicycle to the F1 Pit Garages.  Today, OCBC (a local bank) was organizing the first large scale cycling event in Singapore, and I was one of many EM employees to participate.

The first event is a 50 km race for elite racers (those capable of maintaining a speed above 40 km/h).  They left at 6 AM and I wanted to be there to take some pictures.

Before the event, cyclist are slowly (mainly because it is still so early) getting ready

There are about 200 cyclist ready to go

I was entered into the 40 km race with the number 902.  The start was scheduled for 7:30 AM but was given in order of expected finishing time.  Ahead of me were all the people who had indicated that they would finish in less than one hour; I was in the group of riders who expected to finish in 60-75 minutes and the last group was for those expected to take more than 75 minutes.  There were over 2500 participants.

Some people have really tried hard to have a unique look

Immediately after the start, I follow a group that is moving at a pretty good speed.  I am drafting towards the end of the group and working hard to keep up.  That is when I made the mistake to look at my odometer and see that we are doing 38 km/h.  On my own, I can ride consistently at 31-32 km/h so this is significantly faster, but I do not have to fight the wind resistance.  I am able, just, to keep up with the rest of the group.

However, at each turn, the group slows down than re-accelerates and I loose contact – I have to re-accelerate back to 39-40 just to catch up and at each turn, this gets tougher.  Finally after 20 km of the race, I have to let the group go as I am afraid I will not be able to finish the race if I keep pushing.  I slow down to 32 km/h and they quickly move away from me.

I ride pretty much on my own for the next 20 km back to the starting point, occasionally passed by a small group of riders, occasionally passing a slower rider or two.  I finished the race exactly 500th in 1h15 – I am happy with that result.

There is a crowd recovering after the finish

While more cyclists keep arriving

The atmosphere before and after the race was fantastic.  As I was recovering, the 20 km fun ride was just starting – another 3000 participants were getting on the course. 

For me, this was an opportunity to ride non-stop on the streets with no traffic to worry about, and also see how I stack up against other cyclists.  I only took pictures before and after the ‘race’ as I wanted to do the best time possible since I had such a good start.

It was a great day and before 11AM I was back at my apartment, trying not to fall asleep on the couch! (I failed…)

This past Saturday 28/2 was the EM Dragon Boat Carnival.  66 teams were entered from all departments and many people I normally race with in Papillon were now my opponents in other teams.

All the following pictures were taken by others, as I did not have my camera for this event – credits with each shot!

We arrived early as there were preparations to make and a lot of the organising committee was from Papillon so it gave us a chance to catch up after the long break since the Regatta in November.

 photo by Samuel

The day started with a sail-pass of three boats to set the scene.

 photo by unknown

We had practiced this for two hours several weeks ago, and than another 1/2 hour before the ‘show”.  I am glad that it looked good from the shore.

SPT Team members came in gradually and started to get into the mood…

 photo by Samuel 

And than the heats began.  6 boats per heat, so 11 heats required.  The first two in each heat go directly to the semi-finals; all others go to the repechage.

Heat 6 saw SPT Naga-X finish in 3rd place.  In Heat 8, SPT Dragoneers(my team) did rather well from the start.

 photo by Harry

and continued to do well at the end

 photo by Harry

No, we were not the only boat in this heat.  We finished first by two boat length – we had one of the best times of all the heats.  In heat 10, SPT Long Chuan finished second, an excellent result since the teams was essentially all beginners.  The repechage was kind to Naga-X and they also qualified for the semi-finals.  Three-out-of-three into the semis…

There were 6 semi-finals with the top team in each going in the Grand Final and the second placed team going to the Plate Final.  Long Chuan was in Semi 3; Naga-X in semi 5 and Dragoneers were in the last semi, Semi 6 against SSM Inspection “A” which also had an excellent time in the heats (only 0.12 seconds slower than ours…).  We needed to get ready while Long Chuan and Naga-X ran their races and therefore we failed to see the results.  Naga-X was a very credible third and Long Chuan did better after a (incredible, I was told) come back to take first place by a dragon’s nose.  One team already in the Grand Final.

Our semi was very close! Dragoneers and Inspection “A” were neck and neck all the way and it was unfortunate that one of these teams should be eliminated from the Grand Final. 

 photo by Samuel

Fortunately, we had a good finish and beat Inspection by 0.33 seconds.  We had given it our all and really had difficulties rowing back to the docks.  The cheers of the rest of the team on shore confirmed that we were first.  Two SPT Teams in the Grand Final.

Unfortunately, since we were the last semi-final, the organisers are already calling the plate final as we are starting to cool down.  Soon, they are calling for the Grand Final teams to get ready – we stall!  We go through our preparation and pre-game pep talk, more in order to give ourselves longer to recover than any other reason. 

SPT Long Chuan is in lane 2 – ready to go…

  photo by Samuel

SSM Vigilance (with a lot of people I know because they are regular rowers) is in lane 1; Dragoneers are in lane 6, all the way at the other end.

 photo by Samuel

All teams have to be good to get to the final – now is a question of which is slightly better, or which has been able to keep the most energy at the end of the day.

The results are very close.  Most of our fans from the shore are not sure which team won.  What is sure is that Long Chuan, unfortunately, finished last.  This is still an excellent result and they have a good excuse – one of the rowers lost his paddle right at the start and therefore they did the whole race with only 9 rowers!  Sam finally showed me the pictures he took at the finish – it is clear that Vigilance pipped us right at the line by a whisker!  We figure second place is not bad, but there is still a chance that the photo finish was at a different angle and therefore saw it differently.

 photo by Samuel

My day is not done though! I have one more race, and it is the most serious of all.  The Inter-site race.  For the last two years, I was racing withthe Harbour Front team, since I was located nearest to them – and for the last two years, Refinery won the race, with Chemicals in close second place.  This year I was in the Chemicals Team and we were determined to regain the trophy.  Both Teddy and I are again sitting side by side (he was also next to me on Dragoneersand helped me a lot running the team) but we are both exhausted from the semi + final we just went through.  However, everybody else in the three boats has done pretty much the same thing, so no excuse.

We have a good start and lead all the way for a very famous victory! Chemicals has regained the cup and bragging rights for a year.

SPT Dragoneers with the silver medal from the overall competition

 photo by Samuel

and of course “Chemicals” with the gold medal from the inter-site and the cup!

 photo by Samuel

Now, I can retire from Dragon Boat with me head held high – a silver and a glod medal for my last two races is not bad!

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pierreo September 10th, 2008

It’s 4:30 AM on Sunday 7 September and I am awake. My alarm clock has not gone off yet – it will in less than 15 minutes.

A little groggy, even though I went to sleep early last night, I get up and get ready for the day.

Thursday, I collected the race pack for all three of us; Friday, Richard and I attended the race briefing and on Saturday, David, Richard and I looked at the transition area and decided how we were going to pass the baton (or in this case the “ChampionChip”) during the race.

Here is the full team, after we have set up pur equipment on Saturday.

From left to right: Dave (AKA Georges – Tri50+ Runner), Richard (Tri50+ Cyclist), Pierre (Tri50+ Swimmer), Moraig and Donald (both brave, or crazy enough to do this as individuals…)

We were early – Richard’s bicycle looks very lonely.

The excitement has been growing for some time now, and today is the time to prove what we can do.

I have been swimming hard for four weeks.  I regularly do 60 laps of the complex pool (25 m long) in 32 to 33 minutes.  The first time I tried a full 2 km (or 80 laps) of the pool, I did it in 42 minutes.  The last time, a week ago, I did it in 36 minutes.  I know that swimming in the sea, with 100 competitors around me, is very different, and much harder, but the improvement is still there.

Since I have packed my gear last night, I am ready by 5AM and I leave.  East Coast Park is just waking up.  It is still dark outside but there are 100 people in front of me waiting for “body markings” – since the race starts with a 1.9 km swim, all participants have to have their number marked on their bare skin.  The line moves fast and I get through without delay.  Richard is behind me, and gets his number done just right …

I relax for breakfast – a tub of yogurt – about all I can manage to ingest with my knotted stomach.  I also have a bottle of water from which I take regular sips to insure I am well hydrated.  The organisers and volunteers are doing the same around me and making final preparation for the long day ahead.

By 6 AM I meet Lee Lee, Richard, Moraig and Ronald in the main tent.  Moraig and Donald are doing the full race – Richard will be taking over after me for the cycling leg – Lee Lee is there to support all of us…

Competitors throughout are preparing their equipment while it is still completely dark outside.  The atmosphere is eerie with lots of activity at a time when this should not be the case.  The weather is perfect.  air is cool, there is no wind to create waves and the threat of rain is low.

Richard and I are ready for action – “Muscle Men!”

I must begin to concentrate and get ready for my race.  I leave my post-swim bag with Richard’s bicycle and join a large number of people at the “swim start”.  The elite athletes leave at 7 AM.  I go off to the side so that I can do a little warm up and get the feel of the water.  I have had a mild cold for a few days and therefore am not sure how I will do.  All feels OK!

Audrey has joined us – she did the swim last year and I did the run.

At 7:15 AM, all women competitors leave and men follow at 5 minute interval for different age groups.  The teams are last, scheduled for 7:40 AM.  I am ready, but still have to wait.  Dave joins us at that time and I am glad for the moral support.

7:35 and the last wave of men individual competitors leave.  There are 85 teams, so I am encourraged that the start will not be too crowded.  In the past two “biathlon” that I did, the start almost drowned me – after 200 m I was ready to give up.  My strategy in this case was to start fast, try to get ahead of the crowd and stay to the right of the course, away from the ‘direct’ route.  Unfortunately, since 1400 competitors left ahead of us, there is a constant stream of people completing their first swimming lap and starting on the second.

Count Down: 10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … 6 … (my heart accelerates) … 5 … 4 … (competitors start inching forward, anctious to get going) … 3 … 2 … 1 …      no horn …. TOOOOT! and I go.

Three steps and a dolphin dive (just as I planned) and I am swimming.  Four strokes, breathe, four strikes, breathe, four strokes, breathe … start to relax … two strokes, breathe, two strokes breathe … get into sustainable stroke rate … swim … get away from slower swimmer on the left … swim … I get to the first turn after 150 m and realise that I need to slow down even more as I am out of breath.  But the start worked out OK and now I just need to sustain. 350 m to the next turn, than 100 m towards the beach than 300 m than 50 m back to the beach.  Just take it one step at a time.  Throughout I am surrounded by other swimmers.  I see green caps, who left 5 minutes ahead of us, and I see yellow caps, on their second lap, who left 15 minutes ahead of us.

I complete the first lap and look at my stopwatch – 22 minutes, not quite as good as I expected, but below my goal of 45 minutes for the full distance.  Dave is first to spot me and shout encouragements, Audrey is just after that – I get renewed energy…

Less than 100 m of jogging along the beach, three steps, dolphin dive – this is not the time to loose concentration – and I am swimming again.  There are still a lot of people on all sides of me.  there is the one “purple cap” rigth in front of me.

side bar – in order to identify competitors in the swim, all people have to wear a swimming cap and the color of the cap indicates the wave in which they left.  Elite competitors have white caps, ladies have orange ones, men go from yellow to blue and green while all teams have purple caps.

I have in front of me a direct competitor – and we have about the same pace.  I have heard that you can actually draft even in swimming.  When you swim directly behind another person, you use 5 to 8% less effort.  I do my best to stay right behind the person in front of me – but I am not sure if it really helps.

Again, 150 m out, 350 m across, 100 m back toward the beach and 300 m across.  I gradually increase the pace, just like I did in the pool; by the last turn, and 50 m to go, I am at full speed.  Stroke … stroke … no sand keep stroking … stroke … stroke and touch bottom … I get up … I am done … except for the 200 m jog to get to the transition area where Richard is waiting for me.

A quick glance at my watch shows 44 minutes.  Happiness, but I was secretly hoping for better.  Running in the sand is not easy, but later there is a blue carpet that makes it easier.  Fresh water shower – no time to waste.  The timing mat is ahead - the swim almost ‘officially’ done.  All I have left is an easy jog back to transition where Richard and Dave are waiting.

Than “SNAP” – if this were a cartoon, there would have been a big bubble with “SNAP” in a very ugly font all over it.  I am convinced that I actually heard my muscle when it tore.  I certainly felt it!

Like a hero with superhuman strength (RIGHT! Ha Ha Ha!) I hop and limp and crawl back to transition where I can give Richard the timing chip and get him going on his 90 km cycle.  While Richard gets the timing chip from my ankle and puts it on his, Dave is there waiting with the bicycle – I am just glad it is over…

Andy Ong, a friend I have cycled with, and Zhou Miao, a technician at the plant, are still waiting for their swimmers to get back - I am feeling a little better that we might be the top EM team…

Richard does his first 30 km lap in 55 minutes and does the second lap in the same time – we have a pretty good idea of when he will get back.

First back in transition is Donald after a very good cycling leg.  He left 15 minutes before me, but is now about 20 minute ahead of Richard. Next came Moraig – she left 25 minute ahead of us, but is only 5 minutes in the lead now.

It is 10:50 and Richard pulls in at the end of his leg.  The temperature is up and so is the sun.  Dave now has to deal with both for 21 km.  My concern is that he has not had much experience in Singapore and may not be able to deal with the heat.  I start to feel guilty (a bit late for that, I realise) at having invited him on the team since he just moved here 2 weeks ago.  After 1 lap, he look OK.  After two, he look a bit red… but he is still going strong.

Donald is first to finish with an excellent time under 6 hours.  Moraig is able to stay ahead and finishes just ahead of Dave.  He crosses the line and smiles – glad that the punishment is over.  We collect our “medal” and “Finisher” T-shirts as rewards.  Our total time is just under 6 hours, much better than last year.

There are still a lot of competitors out on the course.  It is impossible, and unfair, to compare a team performance to what it takes to do the whole race as an individual.  But we started last and finished in the first 300 competitors overall.  I am very happy with the results.  And we do look good!

As last year, the main reward is just to finish and to be part of such an incredible event.  To see the satisfaction of competitors when they get to the end of the race is unique.  One lady ended with a cartwheel and back flip.  Several others crossed the line with their whole families who came to watch.  All were applauded by the crowd and us, recognising what it took to get there.

Afterwards, I went home and was finally able to out my leg on ice and try to get the swelling down.  It is better today, and I am sure will improve further, but it is clear that I am not going to do much running or cycling for weeks to come.  Everybody tells me that this is a part of getting old, but I refuse to accept that.  As soon as possible, I will be back on the training track, swimming Mondays, Gym Tuesdays, Running Wednesdays, Cycling Fridays and Dragon Boat Saturdays.  I just love the heady feeling and will get back to it as soon as possible.

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pierreo September 5th, 2008

Please do not let the title fool you – there is nothing routine about running a 1/2 marathon for me and after the debacle at the Singapore Triathlon, I had a lot to prove to myself.  It was therefore important for me to do well in the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run and Army Half Marathon (SBR&AHM).

I had run three 1/2 marathons in the past.  The first, in 2006, I finished in 2h28.  The second was not quite as good, with 2h35 but the last, at the end of 2007, was a significant improvement at 2h16.

Once again, I had choices to make.  Not realising that the event was the evening before the run, I had signed up, with most of Papillon, for the Singapore Fireworks Celebration.  We decided to have a pic-nic before the event, but the weather was questionable.  It was raining most of the day.  With the uncertainty as to whether the fireworks would even happen, and the fact that I did not want to get home late, I decided to leave early to go home.  I am sure my friends will understand that I needed to do well on Sunday.

I went to sleep early (before 10) but also woke up early (I was wide awake at 2AM with butterflies having a party in my stomach and head).  The alarm woke me up again at 4:45 and I got ready to leave.

I started to wonder why I do this!  It is still dark outside and I have had a very short night.  The only people up at this time of night are the ones finishing their party and eating before going home.

But than I approach the Padang and realise that there are many more people like me out there.  Hundreds of people are converging towards the finish line – always good to know where the agony will end!  By 6:00 I am at the starting point, concentrating, stretching, warming up, drinking water, sizing up the opposition (not really, I know that I am my opposition!) and in general getting ready for the race.

At 6:30, the start is given.  It takes me about 45 seconds to reach the starting point, a lot less than most people who are still walking behind me.  This is the largest running event in Singapore with 75000 participants in three separate races (21, 10 and 6km).  The ‘elite’ runners, those doing the full distance, get to leave first – the 10k starts at 7:30 and the 6k starts at 8:30.

The SBR&AHM has one feature every year that makes it special.  The run starts by crossing Shears Bridge.  If you drive over Shears Bridge, you would not think about it as special – it is just a large highway bridge.  But when you run over it, it is a totally different thing.  The bridge starts after the 2 km mark, therefore for me after about 12 minutes of running (my pace is about 10 km/hr, or 6 minute per km).  The road than goes up for the next 12-15 minutes, not a steep incline, but continuous and tough none the less.  And of course, you need to come down afterwards, and when you are running, going down really is not much easier than going up.

At the 7 km mark, I am in East Coast Park, and I can see that the elite runners are already on their way out of the park on the other side of the barrier.  It is somewhat tough to know that after 42 minutes of running, you are already 5-6 km behind the leaders.  The path winds around the park and eventually we get to the turning point at 9.5 km.  Now, I can see that the crowd behind me is a lot bigger than the crowd in front of me.  When I get to the end of the park, they are still coming in and I can see that when I am at 13k, there are a lot of people just getting to 7k!  And they must be thinking, just like me a few minutes earlier, “wow! all those people in front of me!”

The second feature of this SBR&AHM was coming up.  The brand new park connector from East Coast Park to the Marina Barrage, and the first time that people get to cross the brand new Marina Barrage.  Unfortunately, this is still a dirt path, and with the rain of yesterday, it is quite soft and tricky – not easy running.  The barrage is at about the 16 km mark and therefore I only have 5 more to go for the finish.  However, these are always the toughest.

I am still running in a crowd, constantly passing some, and being passed by others, always having to pay attention to those around me.  It is amazing to me considering that we have been running for almost two hours, that there are people who have already finished and others at least 1 hour behind me.  In Marina Park, we have to cross one road with traffic.  Cars and trucks are desperately trying to cross, but there is a constant stream of runners, making this totally impossible.  Fortunately, the police is keeping a close eye on everything and allow me to keep going without stopping.

Just out of the park, I see the best sign in the world: 20 km – only one to go.  I share my feelings with the runner next to me, and he agrees that the news is good, and we will make it.  I am tempted to accelerate, but my body refuses to respond.

Collier Quay, Fullerton Road, 500 m to go, Connaught Road, St. Andrews Road and the finish! The race clock shows 2h12 but my stopwatch, started when I actually crossed the starting point, shows 2h11m35s – my best time so far.

Once again, I wonder why I do this.  I am exhausted, absolutely drenched in sweat; my legs are hurting and I am really thirsty.  Than I realise that “I did it!”  I did what I set out to, it was not easy but I still managed a better time than before.

There is always a crowd at the finish.  I meet Jui Goy, who finished a few minutes before me – now I understand why he was not at the Fireworks last night.  Return “ChampionChip” (the device that gives exact race timing along the course and at the finish, and therefore also prevents people from cheating), get my finisher’s medal and relax for a while with a well deserved bottle of water.

By 10AM, I am home, showered and refreshed.  While a lot of people are just starting their day, I am already done with mine – there is no way I will be doing anything else today!

The results are out and I am 465th out of 1645 “men veterans” – still cannot bet used to that term for me.  By the way, Veterans are all people above 40!  A good result.

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pierreo August 22nd, 2008

It all started a few months ago, after a regular Friday Night cycle.  I was not even there that day.

We kept discussing and finally decided that we should organise a cycling adventure that would challenge us, and others.  Who are “WE”? Here we are at the end of the event (from left): Wong, Freddy, Kar Hui (ESRC President), Eric, Ben and I, with our “Organisers” shirts.

Oh Yes – I forgot to say – the event I am talking about is an all night marathon: cycling 125 km around Singapore Island.

We managed to find a local group to help with the logistics and we actually were able to convince some 60 people to sign up for this, with the help of the ExxonMobil Sports and Recreation Club (or ESRC). ESRC paid for more than half of the total cost, which made this much more affordable for all.

We started on Friday 08/08/08 at 8PM – an auspicious date in Asia as 8 is a lucky number (Beijing did not chose this date by accident!).  People filed in gradually

and Papillon was well represented

A lot of work went into making sure that all the bicycles were in top shape, and safe, with lights, brakes and a comfortable saddle.  All riders were required to wear a helmet.

The participants were devided into 2 groups and after a short speech by the “Chairman of the Organising Committee”

yes, me! – with Derk (SCP Plant Manager) and Kar Hui (ESRC President) watching! – a safety briefing and a short warm-up, we were off just around 9PM.  No there is no total eclipse, or meteor shower or low flying aircraft … we are just stretching our necks!

Group 1 led the way

soon followed by group 2

We had several stops planned along the way, with ability to refill our water botles, and some food.  One of the first stop was at the Kranji Beach Park, on the North shore of the island, where the Japanese first invaded Singapore in 1941 while all the British guns were pointed South towards the open sea… The stop is also an opportunity to chat and see how well we are holding up.  Eric and I, as organisers, can take some time out to pose for a memorable moment

As the night went on, we kept cycling.  To Sembawang Park, than Seletar Air Base, than Pasir Riis and Changi Village, and ultimately, the toughest road in Singapore!

It is not tough becuase it is uphill – indeed it is perfectly flat.  There was not much wind, and, at that time of night, no traffic.  There are no muggers lurking on the shadows, and no birds just waiting to let go just as you pass under the tree.

It is tough because we arrived there at 4AM and it is long, straight, long, boring, long and most of all it seems to go on forever – did I mention it is long?  It is a 5 km stretch right along one of the runways of Changi airport.  At 4AM, and after 90 km, it is tough!  Several people indicated to me that they almost fell asleep while riding; others said they were ready to give up.  Ben and I broke the boredom by racing down the road, trying to catch a group that was ahead of us.  While the rest of the trip was done at a sedate pace, mostly in the low 20 to 25 km/hr, I reached 42 km/hr on this stretch, just for fun…

We stopped at the Singapore Sailing Center along East Coast and finally at Labrador Park at 7 AM.  The sun was coming up and it was a glorious morning.  About 55 people had left the evening before; we gained one along the way, and only lost two so there were still 54 riders full of energy, ready to complete the adventure.

We made a ‘massive’ entrance into West Coast Park just before 8 AM on 09/08/08 – Singapore National Day!

Ben and I finished together, just like when we are rowing – him on the right, me on the left (as we are facing, so on the picture, he is on the left and I am on the right, just in case you have problems recognising me…)

And everybody else soon followed.

We were not through for the etnertainment.  We had 6 people who celebrated their birthday in August, and so we had a cake for them.

A final family photo

And we went home for a well deserved rest.

I was actually full of energy.  I did not sleep all day and only started to feel sleepy around 9PM that evening, after watching the Singapore Airforce doing a special show for the National Day Parade.  I did sleep quite well that night, and did not do anything on sunday, other than take this picture of the odometer on my bicycle recording the distance we had covered!

Overall, a very, very nice night.  Nobody was hurt, nobody got lost and everybody seemed to have a lot of fun.

I am sure that we will have more of these in the future

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pierreo August 10th, 2008

It was time for the annual Jurong Island Dragon Boat Race.  An event dominated the last few years by the many ExxonMobil teams entered in the various categories, except last year where results were disappointing compared to previous years.  We therefore needed to improve…

Last year, indeed, we had won ‘only’ two cups out of four (ladies and Veterans) and three sets of medals – not bad, but not as expected.  The final photo was still one of success.

As you may recall, my mixed team, Papillon, had crossed the finish first in the final, but was later disqualified as we had finished in the wrong lane … An costly mistake.

A lot of practice, by all teams, had gone into doing a lot better this year.  We had entered 8 teams overall, five in the Open competition, and one each in Mixed, Ladies and Veterans. SRC had seven teams entered and most of the other companies a lot fewer.

Three of the teams entered in the Open division qualified for the semi-finals and eventually for the final (there are only 6 lanes) and two other teams, Tiger Lillies (Ladies) and Roaring Forties (Veterans) went directly into the finals as there are less than 6 teams entered.

Papillon had to prove a lot following the disappointments of the previous three years – and we had to do it without our coach Patrick who had other commitments that day. The team did very well in the heat, finishing well ahead of all the other competitors as seen on the picture of the finish below.

Success was repeated in the semi-final, with Papillon again finishing ahead of the rest.

The final overall results were much better than last year.

Sea Blades won the Open division and Aces came in second.

Roaring Forties won the Veterans by a margin of only 0.03 seconds.

Tiger Lillies were unfortunately beaten into second place for the first time in five years – a well deserved silver medal nonetheless.

And Papillon won the mixed division, beating SRC convincingly, and in the correct lane.

The award ceremony was again dominated by winning EM teams – Papillon getting their Gold medal from the EM Chemical Plant Manager himself – the picture says it all, joy and not a small amount of relief.

With so many EM teams getting medals and doing well, we decided to have, once again, a combined team picture on the podium.

That evening we had a fantastic BBQ at Ken’s place, with good food, good company, excellent home-made beer and even entertainment.  Not a bad way to finish the day.

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