14 days later, typing this by my Pa's bedside in the ward at AH - pained and tired from teh unbroken 24/7 bedside vigil eversince the doctors said that he could go at any time. This has stretched into a full two weeks with each day seeing an ineorable decline of bodily functions. From an alert state and frequent requests for water, even humming along to songs sung, today's visage was one of blank stares upwads, eyes rolled up with whites showing, shallow laboured breathing and little movement. And yes, the end is near and although we probably had years to prepare, there's a surreal shock that permeates and drives the soul to a mixture of helplessness, numbness and tired optimism.  He was bedridden a year ago, ad things have  changed radically at the family home. Movements had to be orchestrated with bodily support and all paraphernalia from walkers to wheelchairs, commodes  and such like. Outigs were increasingly difficult and the common refrain of poor dad was that he was very tired.

But in him was a fighter who was clear and lucid. He was still asking about family and financial matters up to a few days be4 his downturn to the vigil days. But still he was strong and cld indicate his preferences for Coke, Ice Cream Soda  and Kopi - I was the one who provided these beverages even as he was incapacitated from ingesting any food or drink for the past 2 weeks. No IV nutrient drip, no Ryles Tube feeding - he was wasting away be4 our very eyes. a sad painful progression to witness. One can only pray that he was in no pain, and that the continuous infusion of Fentanyl went a long way to ease whatever anxieties or pain he was going through.

We said goodbye umpteen times each day f vigil that the family kept, some 12 hour shifts, and oftentimes pulling 6 to 7 hours each day. The idea was not to let him be in the room alone, and provide the warmth of a hand , a head or neck massage, to spray and wet his lips...the only things we cld provide to add comfort in his last days. And so it went on. the end is so very near. the events of the past 3 weeks from 18th April admission   craeted a new normal and one which seemingly can continue. 

But when it finally comes to a close, it will be the finality of it that will take us all, and tehn we will truly see what we are made of. What drove us, sustained us and gave us some modicum of hope will dissipate....and we are left with teh grim looning loss of papa - our father figure , the very fabric of the family torn asunder. ...

Getting back in Shape Again. Active Aging, I say!

This blog is as much about the derring do's of  Team  Epo, my erstwhile shennanigans  with Team Cyclospore and  Team ASG, as it is basically about Embracing Life and all that it offers, and Living it! The slant here of course is my predilection to taking part in marathons, duathlons, aquathlons and triathlons...ok ok - there's biathlons too and stand alone races for each discipline as well. Add on the odd sailing race or two and you get the idea of  a varied sporting lifestyle. yup - nothing beats actually getting out there and doing it...Living is believing , I say!!

As we work ourselves at the office, it's gainful to also work ourselves outside of office to stay active and go about enjoying what our bodies can do - and keeping the engines running as they say. In everything, as always, moderation is the key so it pays to listen well to one's body and do things which are beneficial in the long run (pun intended).

What works for some may not work for another, and different pple have different take always from their involvement in sports and activity. I have friends who run every marathon hey can, but they do well enough for now as that's what keeps them ticking. But I say that we should guard against overtraining or unduly putting our bodies through extended periods of 'abuse' and stress.

STENT BY ME PART 2

STENT BY ME PART 2

Almost two months have passed by since the Feb procedure date and soon I will be seeing my cardiologist again for a review. I have been on the meds for  many weeks now and dun feel any none teh worse for waer. The initial discomfort of the bruising on my groin area where the cathether was inserted has cleared; and teh imagined feeling it the two stents valiantly propping up two of my LAD arteries have all but dissipated. I feel as tho nothing has happened. But somethgs  did!

I knocked myself into a side of some obstacle or furniture - cant quite remember - and I got a HUGE royal bruise the size of a coffee cup saucer! That made me painfully  and MOST VISUALLY aware that I am going to bruise easily! Must be careful - haematomas like this are scary!

I had a bit of a piles prob whilst on holiday and sitting in the coach for extended hours and the blood letting  due to the aspirin meds was scary as well. I am ever now so conscious about knocks, cuts, what have u...and need to be very mindful about how I conduct my life - no more rough and tumble; no more cheonging to get the heartbeat up beyond zone 2 or whatever the gd doctors advise to be wary of.  I must also defiitely learn how to handle stress. Amazingly my blood pressure isnt letetg up...its still hypertensively high. Ebven higher sometimes then pre-stents - and I am not talking about readings taken after exercise. It's readings at rest taken in office; or even in bed at home! What gives?

I attribute some of that to trying times I am experiencing at work, in my personal life for sure, and the natural predisposition to have elevated pressure readings from any extraneous stimuli like work deadlines, conflict management, my ever active mind that thinks too much, the worry about whr I can still make it to CEBU 70.3 Ironman, my continued but lower key training - just thinking and experiencing all these has prob led to still elevated BP readings!

More later. weekend beckons!!

SELFIES n GROUPIES - JUST DO IT! Or NOT?

Not to be OUTDONE 

by the record breaking SELFIE sponsored by SAMSUNG in the hands of ELLEN DG and BRADLEY  C at the  recent  OSCARS, here are some great shots of TEAM EPO in training after a hiatus over the  Christmas and New Year festivities.

Black White/Sepia tone rendering of the gd Team Epo @

Lollipop bus stop - Ok ok - this is not a selfie but taken by Lorenzo Pimental, our Team ASG bro.

Watch this space when we next unleash and reveal our brand new sponsored kits!!

In the meanwhile:

.SELFIE!!! :)

 Willing smiles after a quick tempo run at a Yishun park next to Lilydale

STENT BY ME - and keeping this old ticker ticking well!

OH well well...so much has transpired since the last post regarding  High Blood Pressure readings.
Suffice to say now I have experienced first hand CT Scans, being infused with contrast dyes, and the grand overture of them all - a double Stent angioplasty plus one balloon to boot!

Imagine these contraptions in your heart! Amazing!!

All these were undertaken by my gd Dr Eric and the procedures conducted at Mt Elizabeth.... yes - the angiogram /angioplasty is technically a procedure and not an operation, even tho' I was under sedation and knocked out on Propafol the infamous Michael Jackson drug) and had to be in ICU for the whole night....

I was laid out on the operating  (I mean procedure) table , infused  with  great stuff thru my  branula by the  anaesthetist Dr See Toh, and whilst blissfully asleep and unconscious was prodded with a fine catheter inserted thru' my right femoral artery (just to right of my groin) which gingerly made its way all  the way to my ailing heart.

In the LAD (Left Anterior Descending) artery, where  Dr Eric had previously found 50% or so blockage from the CT  and Ultrasound scans done a few weeks prior, the  clinical evidence  now revealed a far worse 80% blockage and the pre-consent  given was to  insert the stents! And yes - one balloon too. I had two ABSORB stents put in  - the new fangled ones which are biodegradable  and will slowly be absorbed into the body in about two years.  (as opposed to the metal mesh variety which will stay there till kingdom come!)

So to ICU for the rest of the night after the successful procedure. (During which after about 6 hrs  the affable Dr Justinian came to remove the catheter stuck in my groin and I experienced plummeting Low Blood Pressure that really was quite a frightful affair..... I was discharged the next day (none the worse for wera except for HUGE welts/ haematoma marks on my groin where the blood pooled post catheher withdrawal) and given a daily cocktail regime of Aspirin , Approvel, Simvastatin..etc - all to ensure anti-clotting, anti-thrombotic events and also to treat the high cholesterol as well as build up the heart again and address the hypertension. I hear I have to be on these drugs long term and have to deal with the side effects as best I can. :)

MY ICU STAY with loads of TLC

The shocking revelation here is that I have coronary heart disease (CAD). at 80% blockage, any higher and I wld be a  fitting candidate for a by pass surgery. But I count myself lucky that this was averted  and found out in the course of my stress test. So all that panting and wheezing when I exerted myself in endurance races all those years prior were a direct result of a bad heart! Those niggling pains I had were not heart burn but prob small little heart attacks! Oh my - reality sets in really deep and i am so lucky to have discovered this early enough in my active life.

Someone told me a blog about  active aging wld garner quite a gd following - how to make the best of what you have  and staying fit, active and pursuing healthy pursuits. I guess the buzzword now is everthing in moderation. You have only one heart, and one has gotta take care of it. regular exercise is good, and staying active aerobically will also go a long way to keep the ticker healthy. Alas, the CAD is irreversible in the other arteries, and it has to be a regimen of better diet , with judicious food intake so as not to hasten the CAD any faster than it shld be. Still , I believe we can still forge a meaningful existence balancing work , play and even my pursuits of sailing and triathlon. The gd cardiologist acknowledged this and fd me to be a prime candidate for the absorbable stent.

Living is Believing  - I say - and I will go on living as best I can  in the circumstances as Life is meant o be lived and lived abundantly. I will share my life's journey with all who wish to read and travel this road with me post-stent.

Till then , gd health to all - and go for check ups if you  can. It is never too early!

Go PRO Studio Shots!

No - no - not talking about going Pro but just wanted to share  some great pics we took with the Lumiere Photography guys at their Studio in Yishun  when I was with the ASG guys.
 Team ASG is Ace Sports Group, fronted by Raymond who runs it from Orchid Country Club. They also help run the sports initiatives at the said country club. We have a group of cycling enthusiasts affiliated with ASG and had been riding together on most weekends starting from the HQ in OCC. When the opportunity came to showcase the Team's latest jersey colours from QuickSpeed , I got a few of the intrepid modelly cyclists together for some posterity shoots at the studio. Here are are the results - I think they came out brilliant!! And as in all good things - here's the share!!

Looking all formal and tight lipped - from L-R, yours truly, Jian Ming, Daniel, Aidil and Inigo
This is the 2013 cycling jersey set

Here we have the Speed Suit - super hard to put on cos it' s  a super tight and sticky-clingy-body hugging set. The suit leaves nothing to the imagination  (which is why we are all like bending down...LOL) but hey - with a lower drag co-efficient - that's a small price to pay! LOL
Note the matching shoes from Specialized - only mine are red. Whoopee!!

Speed Suit Demons in action in TT hell-mets. LOL.

Bikes are both Neil Pryde, which was the brand ASG fronted in Singapore.

A moment of levity as we showcase the 2012 jersey and polo, 2013  jersey and speed suit.

I am wearing the 2012 cap. There is evidently continuity in design execution..and you can appreciate the cohesive collection here in the pic.  Jian Ming obviously is the lightest weight here. LOL.

The Unbearable Lightness of being - models for the evening.

I personally like this shot  - carefree and fun!

Taking the fun to another level altogether we get happy with our toys!

Inigo thinks its a jungle out there and brandishes his double swords!

The de riguer family portrait....

 The Formal Arty black and white...

...and finally the postscript : watch our backs! (ok ok..we are now peeing in a row wor!!)

STRETCHING YOUR LIMITS!

STRETCHING IS ALSO AN INTEGRAL PART OF EXERCISE!

I suppose too often we run headlong into our sports activities and gym work even without a pause to even think about pre and post activity stretching. This should be as important as the undertaken activity itself, and even more so when the activity  is strenuous and taxes the core and muscular system of our bodies.

Regular stretching should be incorporated as part of any athlete's regime, and especially so in endurance sports like Triathlons. There should be a set protocol of moves to follow which may be sports specific and when undertaken correctly, will go a long way to improve performance and minimize injuries. Even post exercise, the stretching should be done to ensure and promote post workout recovery by limbering down and promoting the removal of the lactic acid build up so that the body recovers in as short a time as possible and ready to hit t e grind again !

There are set great stretching moves  and routines you can follow; trigger balls and foam rollers that u can incorporate into the routine to really get down into the area of myofascial release et al; and also passive stretching remedies like  sports massages that you can treat your body to.

Try to save INTENSE stretching sessions like yoga moves to after u have had a good warm up. The more you exercise or warm up before you stretch, the more blood flow your muscles will have, which decreases the risk of suffering strains or tears.

Focus on the Stretch and get your body limbered up or down as the case may be.

In Triathlon Training, stretching is one of the most important things that you need to do to make sure that your body is at its optimum flexibility and strength. 

I have seen triguys who just engage in running, biking or swimming who tend to  skip stretching because it doesn't seem necessary. After all, you're already going to get a good workout by going thru the actual exercise, so stretching just seems to be something that takes up too much pre-workout time right? Cant one just ease into the training by swimming or running or cycling slow and then up the pace after the so called warm up? I would like to help point up that stretching is pre-warm up even. Or post warm down as the case may be. So in the case of say a running race, you would go through the routine of stretching your muscles; before the  warmup which is before the actual race. geddit?? These should then be the two opening acts before the real thing.  the warm up could be as easy as a slower staring pace as u get your engines warmed up for the race tempo.

So the word is out that stretching can actually further  improve your triathlon training and give you an advantage as opposed to no stretching at all.As it is, training for a triathlon isn't easy. It requires your muscles to endure many repetitive motions. 

Every time you stretch the muscles in your body you are getting the muscle fibres to  become more elastic. This encourages flexibility of the muscles over time.  

Muscle Flexibility is key component during a triathlon for a number of reasons:

First, your muscles are super prone to tightening up  and cramping during a triathlon because of the repetitive motions that you put it through. If you have more elasticity and flexibility in your muscles, the incidence of cramping is decreased . In most cases, you won't  even feel any tightness until after the race. How's that for some value add?

Second, flexibility is also important for your your muscles, which, when flexible, have a greater range of motion which for example:
* in the case of shoulder muscles, can propel you forward more quickly in your swimming.
* in the case of  your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves , gives you power and greater strides in running
* in the case of your lower back muscles, the ability to adopt the aero position in bike mode for a longer      time before the muscles ache too badly.

The list goes on.

Staying in Peak Form

Outside of gaining flexibility ,elasticityand a greater range of motion in your muscles, stretching is important because triathlon training is something that takes time. Over time, you build up your endurance and learn how to run farther, swim longer and cycle faster. Stretching allows your muscles to continue to stay in peak form. 

Without stretching, you put yourself at risk for muscle pulls, tears and cramps during training. All of these could set you back to square one when it comes to triathlon training. Stretching out properly pre and post training sessions preps your muscles for the challenges that await. 

So it is gonna be really  helpful to learn the proper stretching techniques. It can help prevent muscles from tightening up and prevent injury. By taking the time to stretch, your muscles will be flexible enough to handle anything that you throw at them during your training sessions.  It will help avoid cramps; aid in better flexibility  during the race and post event it will aid in faster recovery .

For cycling warriors,  and in my particular case, my friend Tim  of LOUE BICYCLES has recommended the four stretches to support the pelvic region  - a great article by Dr Ben Kim - please look http://drbenkim.com/streches-pelvic-health.htm

It is worthwhile to take in stretches for your inner and outer hip muscles,  quadriceps and hamstrings.

Other Recommended Readings by Tim  for Structural Fitness (more information can be found online):
1. Flexibility for cyclists by Fred and Kele McDaniel
2. Core Strength Graduate Project by Sarah Hoffman
3. Stretching and Flexibility by Kit Laughlin (Check out Youtube for free Videos)

4. Pilates for Dummies