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Post primer- Increasing power and diesel shortages raise questions to India’s continued rapid economic growth. Lack of glacial melt and rainfall for India’s hydro power plants and aging electricity infrastructure have led to frequent blackouts. Rural areas are facing 12-18 hours of blackouts while urban areas are in the dark for 5-7 hours.

Reading that made me think what life would be like if something like that happened in Singapore. Immediately I thought it’d make for a good break from work where life can finally slow down. My daydreaming brought me, Janice and the doggies to some place in the world where we lived in a house with a vegetable garden patch in a temperate climate. Whilst in that fantasy thought, I hadn’t yet figured out what I’d be doing to earn an income. I just thought to myself how nice life would be if everything slowed down to the point where I would have time to grow my own food, possibly my own transportation fuel (read biodiesel or bioethanol), have the house powered by a wind turbine, read books, train for triathlon, go mountain biking during the week, play golf, cook proper meals on a daily basis, and have proper play time with the dogs and possibly kids when they come.

Just over the weekend, my father-in-law mentioned that during his time, it used to take 2 weeks to get a reply after sending a letter through telex. I wonder what did people do while they waited for a response. I’m sure life was much slower. Must have been nice.

Back to reality…. I guess the only way to make those dreams come true is to work 12-14 hour days for a decade and hope I become a multi-millionaire in that time. So I can say sayonara to the ratrace and move to that house beside the golf course, next to the mountains, with the garden.

Well… none of that is going to happen so I think I’d better get back to work. So I can get out of the office for swim class this evening. Think I should feel grateful that at least I can go for swim class.

“I will never subject myself to that again”, after 2005 StanChart marathon

“…..again…..”, after adidas Sundown marathon

I’ve just printed out another training marathon training programme.

Earlier in the day, a colleague walked over and mentioned that my company will be supporting any employee who wishes to run this years StanChart marathon. She asked if I was doing it and I replied, “I’ll decide in a bit… once I recollect how painful both previous attempts were and mentally re-run every single boring kilometer during those long training runs.”

A few hours later and I’ve downloaded and printed out a marathon training programme. I’ve penciled in the long run workouts in my training diary to see what they look like amongst the 70.3 and Lombok Tri races that I plan to do. I’ve worked out what pace those long runs are to be done at based on a new target time. I’m about to write down the target pace for the interval workouts and tempo runs once I’m done typing this.

Personally I don’t think I sound like a person who has vowed never to run a marathon again….twice. I must be confused. I remember my first StanChart marathon being the most physically excruciating thing I’ve ever done, voluntary or otherwise. I remember crossing the finish line at the adidas Sundown marathon and feeling like my life force had been sucked out of my body. I actually felt depressed after the race. Not because I didn’t hit my target time but because I was totally physically, mentally and emotionally drained. Yet, there is a training programme on my table staring back at me right now.

There is a decision-making part of my brain that I’m not aware, and obviously, not in control of.