IM training began today for the 2008 season. 2007 was marked by injury, missed workouts and general frustration. I am hoping to change that for 2008.
Today, I saddled up Cecilia Blue and set up for a mid tempo ride to the northwest tip of Singapore to have a look across the Johor Straits at Malaysia. I live at the very south central point of Singapore, close to the focal point of Singapore's favorite past time, shopping, so the ride to the Police Coast Guard Base on Lim Chu Kang Road where it dead ends at the Johor Straits is 80KM (50Mile).
Despite being the rainy season, the skies where clear and the sun was bright. I was able to cover the distance in just under 2 hrs 30 min which given the heat I was quite pleased about. I went through four 22oz water bottles, a handful of Endurolytes (electrolyte replacement tablets by Hammer Nutrition) and two Cliff bars. The route I took runs through a heavy industrial corridor on the west end of the island so I was continually harassed by heavy truck traffic. At one point, I was able to race uphill ahead of two heavily burdened dump trucks only to be sprayed with detritus as they lumbered past me when the road flattened out. Once through the industrial I turned up Lim Chu Kang Road and was shaded by the relatively rural settings. Apparently not too many people want to live next to the "live firing area" on the west end of the island. All said and done, it was great to have Cecilia ripping up the road again.
On a somewhat related note, I originally put together my training program for IM Wisconsin but depending on how my early training goes, I may try to add IM China as well as IM Japan. Japan should be very possible, scheduled for 22 June but to ready for China on 20 April I will have to have my training go off without a hitch.
Sometimes a song says it all. Heck, sometimes the title of a song says it all.
Pissed Off 2AM
Song by Alejandro Escovedo
Performed by Jennifer Warnes
From the album Por Vida: The Songs of Alejandro Escovedo
I don't expect too much
The lights are off now
It's only two
How I wish my breath
It didn't hurt so much
Then you'd be up babe
It's only two
Why don't you sleep?
You look as though you need it
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me
Now they mean nothing to me
Well all my friends they laughed,
They laughed at all my jokes
I got one more story,
It's only two
How I wish my touch
Could erase the past
Then you'd be up babe
It's only two
Why don't you drink
You look as though you need one
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me,
No, they mean nothing to me
If these were different times
Then you'd be up,
And we'd trade stories
It's only two
Why don't we pretend?
I's all we have between us
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me, now
Why don't you sleep?
You look as though you need it
The barricades and reasons
They mean nothing to me,
Now they mean nothing to me
What's the best book you read this year?
I re-read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I hadn't read it since I was 16 and it was even better than I remembered. Next is John Knowles' A Separate Peace and then William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Ah to be young again...
Not all classics keep as well. Salinger's A Catcher in the Rye was good (also re-read this year) but it was easier to identify with Holden when I was young vs the cynical old bastard I am now. Fortunately, Salinger's other works are not anchored in fruition from adolescence and still are a pleasure to read.
Antipode
An antipode is the point directly opposite a specified point on the earth. Digging that hole, I mentioned, the exit point is the antipode of the starting point.
To find an antipode of a specified point, convert the latitude of your starting point to the opposite hemisphere. Chicago is 42 degress North so we convert that to the southern hemisphere to get 42 degrees South.
(Actually, Chicago is 41 degrees 50 minutes 13 seconds North but we are rounding up for an easier illustration. I'm not rounding down to 41 degrees North because that gives us a starting point in Indiana. I'd rather round up and start in Lake Michigan. Did you click on the link for Indiana?)
(Antipodes are always 180 degrees of arc away from the original point.)
Again, rounding for convenience we use 87 degrees West then subtract from 180 to get 93 degrees East.
(Actual longitude of Chicago is 87 degrees 41 minutes and 06 seconds West.)
Chicago: 42N, 87W
Antipode: 42S, 93E
The antipode of Chicago puts you in the southern Indian Ocean between Africa and Australia, 835 miles/1347km from the southwest tip of Australia.
What about my new home?
If I perform the same calculation for Singapore (rounding for ease of calculation)
Singapore: 1N, 103E
Antipode: 1S, 77W
Determining the physical location of the antipode brings us to northeast Ecuador. Because both points are on the equator where Earth fattens out, this would be one long tunnel. I may want to move back to Chicago before I start that project.
Coincidentally, Ecuador is also home to the extinct volcano, Mt Chimborazo (20,946 feet/6,384 meters). And also as a result of the bulge at Earth's equator, Mt. Chimborazo is the point furthest from the center of Earth and thus the "highest point on Earth".
This may seem to contradict conventional wisdom until you realize the point of reference has shifted from "sea level" to "the center of the earth". Mt. Everest is the "highest point above sea level" (29,035 feet/8,850 meters) but Mt. Chimborazo is 2.1km father from the earth's center.
Similarly, it is interesting to note, that the dormant volcano, Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, is the tallest mountain in the world when measured from "base to peak". Rising 13,796 feet/4,205 meters above sea level, it is significantly shorter than Mt. Everest in regards to "sea level" but when measured from the base, the Hawaiian volcano rises well over the 29,035 feet/8,850 meters of Everest (best estimate for Mauna Kea is 33,480 feet/10204 meters). Mauna Kea is so massive it is actually depressing the Pacific sea floor beneath it and decreasing in height over time.
Since we are discussing heights I should touch on depths.
Challenger Deep and the Dead Sea.
The deepest point in the ocean thus far surveyed is Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, in the western Pacific Ocean at 35,838 feet/10,923 meters. The point is named after the original British vessel, HMS Challenger, that discovered the trench.
The lowest point on land is the Dead Sea at 1378 feet/420 meters below sea level.
I've got some more of this geeky earth science stuff but it can wait another day or two...
In a discussion with Li Yen that finally had resolution today, I have learned that the 12 days of Christmas are the days that follow Christmas and end on Epiphany, January 6. The celebrations have more or less been abandoned in the USA to make way for post Christmas sales and college bowl games. I was confused and thought the 12 days may be related to the 9 days prior to Christmas that is celebrated in Mexico and known as Los Posadas. I was wrong. Perhaps I ate one too many burrito in my day. (I really miss Mexican food. Once you leave North America you can say goodbye to quality Mexican food.)
And since the traditional gift on the first day of Christmas is a Marmot, I have included this...
Today, Wikipedia has a nice little short on marmots at the bottom of their main page. I have pasted the description below but if you click the link above you can see it.
A Yellow-bellied Marmot seen on top of Mount Dana, Yosemite National Park, USA. The road in the background is Tioga Pass Road. Yellow-bellied Marmots are ground squirrels that live in the western United States and southwestern Canada. They inhabit steppes, meadows, talus fields and other open habitats, sometimes on the edge of deciduous or coniferous forests, and typically above 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) of elevation.
Photo credit: Inklein
It was beautiful night in Singapore. I stopped to take a photo of the full moon before getting in the elevator to leave my office building.
For the first time in a year, I packed my lunch to the office (a Christmas miracle!). As a result, it was tasty and nutritious. The night before I had made a turkey sandwich with Gloucester cheese on whole wheat bread and packed it with a half dozen cherry tomatoes. For dessert, I brought plain Greek yogurt to mix with a large container of fresh raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Unfortunately I snapped a photo after I had devoured the bulk of the berries.
So I not certain if this is normal but the mood on Orchard Road tonight is more like Mardi Gras than Christmas Eve. The walkways are overflowing with people and it must have been expected because the police where out in force and crowd restraining barricades were everywhere. The young and the young at heart were battling each other with artificial snow in aerosol can and the occasional can of silly string. It was a very bizarre Christmas experience, especially when the police came and made the group of teenagers disband who were holding up the "Free Hugs Signs" and delivering the goods to all those who dared.
Merry Christmas! It's 00:40 on 25 Dec in Singapore and I think I heard reindeer overhead, I better get to bed!
I'm not saying Singapore doesn't have it's fair share of crap street performers; it certainly does: mediocre musicians, the dreadful human statues (which Singaporeans LOVE!), and a guy who spins a giant string of coconut sized balls around his waist. However, it also has some real talent. I witnessed a genuine string quartet play beautifully in the pedestrian underpass by Lucky Plaza yesterday (right next to the woman selling pirated dvd's). Tonight, I was mesmerized by a young acrobatic duo raising money for a Mongolian orphanage. It may have been a scam but I gave them $5 if for nothing else, their sheer talent.
I think the best Chicago has to offer are the infamous Bucket Boys (I haven't seen the little Chinese girl who plays violin with her father in years). For those who don't know, the Bucket Boys are a group of young men who play drums on discarded 5 gallon buckets. If they plan an Asian tour, they may need to raise the bar a little. Maybe squeeze inside the buckets yogi style after their performance.
Tonight I had dinner at Le Bistrot, one of my favorite restaurants in Singapore. It was a nice surprise suggested and booked by Li Yen. Le Bistrot has a reasonable prix fixe menu that is usually supplemented with specials. Tonight it had a few different Christmas inspired additions of which I chose the Sainte Maure log as an entree; goat cheese melted on bread and served with mixed lettuce. For my main, I had venison short loin on polenta with pommes frites. The wine, a red from south western France, was light but opened up well with the meal and it was a fantastic meal.
It was a warm and beautiful evening. The rain had stopped and the moon was well on its' way to being full. Here is another shot using the Panasonic Limix FX-100.
Today, in the northern hemisphere, is the winter solstice. The winter solstice is the calendar day when the night is at its' longest. From the point of the solstice forward, the amount of daylight will only increase until the summer solstice when the process reverses.
Today I received two nice surprises. Here is the first.
I don't recall ever receiving an arrangement of flowers. The flowers were beautiful and smelled fantastic. The chocolates were a nice touch - take a look at the colors.
After work, despite being quite late, I stopped by Dave's place (Dave with his dog Cotton).
It was Renga's birthday (wearing crown). The plan was to go to a club but Renga wanted to watch some silly Bollywood movie so everyone feel asleep.
Dave gave me a Lamborghini replica to take home after we watched the original version of the movie, The Italian Job.
I should have gone home much earlier and went to bed. I have to meet my trainer in a few hours. Arg.
I saw this vine hanging about 20 meters from the tree top to the sidewalk on my walk last night. The sky was cloudy but the mon was bright and I happened to be carrying my Panasonic Lumix FX-100.
