Just arrived back from the conference in Lorne afew hours ago. Its so good to be back in the land where the sun always shines! Well, almost. Didn't manage to squeeze in any running while I was there. Had afew beers and glasses of red, the most that I've had in probably 12 months. The drinking is sometimes social, and I am sticking to it as an excuse anyway.

Our team (Team Green) won the Beach Olympics on the first day and on the second, I did the mountainbiking. Was an onroad-offroad ride of round about 15km with a lung-bursting small climb to Teddy's Lookout towards the end. The spectacular views afterwards made it all worthwhile though.

I took the opportunity this year to do some proper reconnaissance of the route for the Great Ocean Road Marathon in May. Thanks to SS who graciously granted us the exclusive use of his car. We took a slow drive from Lorne, the start of the marathon, to the finish at Apollo Bay Hotel in Apollo Bay.

I tried my best to take it all in during the journey, trying to visualize myself running up some of the long slopes and other not so long but steeper ones. Overall, there weren't many flat stretches at all. It was either going up or coming down at any one point in time. I expect alittle more pain to be involved in this one, but yes, it will definitely be a challenge for me. I am already wondering if my legs will feel like logs afterwards.

We even managed to locate the YHA in Apollo Bay where we've booked our accommodation. It looked like a cosy place. Nice!
P and I decided that we would fly into Avalon airport and then get a rented car from there. We should be booking the flights in the next week or so.

Just finished packing for Melbourne. Yes, its that time of the year again....the annual conference. Tomorrow morning we leave for a 4-day company conference. They booked us a flight that leaves at 0520hrs and that just means that we have to wake up at some ungodly hour of 0300hrs to leave the house by 0330hrs in order to arrive an hour prior. What do you do?

i better go to bed now. Only afew hours to go.

Got home late last night after a week away from Gladstone. Feeling tired again. Gonna take afew days to catchup with things around here now that i am back. Didn't realise that tomorrow is the first day of Chinese New Year. I kept thinking that its on Monday till I rang my mum this morning. So that makes tonight the reunion dinner night. Wish I was there to pig out on the steamboat and seafood.

Its so strange because I can remember the times when all I had wanted to do was to get away from everyone during CNY. But now, I thought it might be nice to be back and soak in the festive mood that goes on around the place, or just to mingle and hang out with friends. I miss squeezing in with the crowd in Chinatown after reunion dinner at midnight. That was fun.

There are quite afew things that I miss about CNY, not forgetting the many goodies. Yumyum.

I have finally got my tattoo done today. I have waited for about two years for the "right design" to come along and now I have finally done it. How do you know its the right design? You will feel it in your heart and you will know that is it. There were many things I had to think about in the last 2 years while waiting for the right one to come along. Stuff like what type of tatt, what design, what size, where to put it, left side or right, which tattoo shop, and the list goes on.

As you can see, its something which I had put some thought into and not just picked outta thin air .

I had it done just above my left ankle. I chose the left ankle because I am left-legged. The tatt is a tribal design of the symbol of Aries the Ram. I decided on the symbol of Aries because being born in the month of April, I have discovered over the years that I am an Aries through to the last bit. I asked Tim (the tattooist) from Bordeline Tattoos, located at Burleigh Heads, to alter the design that I have given him so as to personalise it for me.

We arrived alittle early, had alittle chat and he showed me some sketches. I picked the one I liked best and we were off. I sat on the couch, as Tim prepared the needle and reminded me to breathe just before he started. The needle touched my ankle and there was a sharp, intense pain as Tim began to do the outline of the tatt. I thought to myself, "oh God, I've underestimated the pain!" Fortunately, after about 10 mins, the pain seemed to have "saturated" and it no longer felt as painful.

Next to me was a man who must have been there for hours as he got the whole of his left forearm tattooed. His was an elaborate and colourful tatt that must still require a couple more hours of blood and sweat before it is completed. Geez. My tatt took only about half an hour and needless to say, I felt a sense of relieve when it was finally done. I wasn't quite sure if I was relieved because the pain was over or was it because I had waited for this moment for two years.

Its currently being wrapped up in shrink wrap and will take about 3 days before I can do away with the wrapping. Meanwhile I need to wash it everyday and change the wrapping. According to me, it looks really good and I love it. Will I do it again? Probably, but only if I find the right one again.

Another two years maybe? Shrugs.

Tomorrow night will see us participate in Round 1 of the Area51 Adventure Racing series. There are 5 rounds altogether in this series and gradually progressing in duration. Tomorrow's race will only be 3hrs in length, commencing at 1900hrs. The format of this race sounds like a cross between a Metrogaine and the Kodak Urban Max....quite interesting.

I have just finished packing my gear and refrigerating my camelbak, filled with Gatorade. I was in two minds about which pair of shoes to wear....go the Columbia or the Saucony?? Thing is that I have never used the Saucony in a race before but the Columbia has seen some action and proven itself to be rather worthy.

I sorta decided to give the Saucony a chance in the end, seeing that the terrain we would be coming up against is mostly urban and not bush. It should be quite safe. Yet in the back of my mind, I just cannot stop questioning my own choice. So many "what ifs?" keep popping into my head. Think I am going to stick with the Saucony anyway and see how it goes. Fingers crossed.

The two other members in the team are both slightly crook and not in good form coming into this race. BG is still recovering from a rib injury sustained a week ago while P is suffering from what appears to be ITB or PTFS on his left knee. I gave P my Pattstrap to wear and he thinks it feels better with the Pattstrap on. We will have to see how its all going to pan out during the race tomorrow.

There are some mandatory equipment we all have to carry for the race, some as a team and some as individuals. For this, we had a gearcheck meeting during lunch yesterday, basically just going through the list and making sure that everyone has what we are supposed to have to ensure no surprises on the day itself. All's good.

For dinner tonight, we cooked our traditional pre-race food...PASTA! Now we are all geared up and ready. Wish us luck.

I'm slowly feeling like I'm getting back into the swing of things. My running routine is starting to come together since I got home from Gladstone. Unfortunately, I'm gonna be away again for another week from this Sunday. No prizes for guessing the destination this time.

Its always the same crap, just when I'm getting stuck into it and riding with the wind, I've to go away. I'm gonna have to try and keep it all together this time. Can't believe that its already the 2nd month of the year. The first quarter would be over soon. I have yet to register for the Great Ocean Road marathon. Still feeling apprehensive, knowing how open and undulating the course is. I'm gonna have to get in by the end of the month to qualify for the early bird special.

Will I or won't i?

Finally, here are some pics of the house:

We are born one fine day
Children of God on our way
Mama smiles daddy cries
Miracle before their eyes
They protect us till we're of age
Through it all love remains

Boy moves on takes a bride
She stands faithful by his side
Tears and sweat they build a home
Raise a family of their own
They share joy they share pain
Through it all love remains

Kingdoms come and go but they don't last
Before you know the future is the past
In spite of what's been lost or what's been gained
We are living proof that love remains

I don't know baby what I'd do
On this earth without you
We all live we all die
But the end is not goodbye
The sun comes up seasons change
Through it all love remains
An eternal burning flame
Hope lives on and love remains