Running

Been training for a long distance run for the past few months and in this time where the market is volatile,  I would like to bring across some long distance running quotes into the area of financial wisdom.

 "Even Mt. Everest was defeated on step at a time." - Anonymous


"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit" - Aristotle


"Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential." ~Winston Churchill


"I often hear someone say I'm not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner." - Bart Yasso

Hence,  I am still choosing to stay invested and doing what I have tried and proven for me  Take a step at a time, overcome a hill at a time, towards smaller goals and milestone. 

Blessed day !

Long Term or Short Term

Like many issues, we always like to chose the short term goals as the rewards comes quickly.  These few weeks, there are some questions that I had to address to for the long term benefits and those questions are not neccessarily just finances.  Some of them for thoughts:

1.  Spiritual
The passing of Mrs Lee is a reminder of our relationship with our maker on a daily basis.  It also raises deeper thoughts on the legacy that one would pass on when he/she is brought home.

2.  Physical
For the past 6 months, I have been on a low carb, moderate protein and fat experiment.  Details of the experiment can be found here (local) and here.  It's been positive so far.  The transition into VFF is also working quite well and there's plan to run a 20K this few weeks in prepartion for the Stand Chart.

3.  Financial
Since cooling measures imposed by HDB,  steps had been taken to reduce the housing loan significantly that it won't take long before clearing baby step 6. 

Blessed day !


Related posts:
a.  The Seven Baby Steps
b.  Vibram Five Fingers

1st 5 km with Vibram 5 fingers

This is not a post about personal finance but about some of my other budgeted expense.   Hence you may not want to read through this post.  It fits here as I ran quite a few marathons and consider life as a marathon and applies the same philosophy to personal finance and investments like wise.

Blessed day!

I have been running quite a few marathons and since picking up mid foot running (from books by Danny Dreyer), I have using techniques close to mid foot.  Clocking my current shoe for over more than 1000 kms,  I have been thinking of getting a pair of shoes when I bump into a colleague who used 5 fingers for his ultra and marathons.

Hence I decided to try 'barefoot' running to further improve my running posture.  I got my Vibram 5 Fingers through Outdoor Life  (for other sources,  please contact Innovatez). 

Review of my 1st 5 km

Reading some other runners reviews and feedback from my colleague,  I brought my current Asics and left it in the car in the event that if I suffered from calf muscle aches after 2 km,  I can change to my Asics. 

1 km into the run affirms that I already switched from 'heel striking' to 'mid feet' technique and hence I continued the rest of the distance with the Vibram.  Completed the 5 km  with almost the same timing and with a slight calve tightness.  For me,  it was good and enjoyable run with thanksgiving to Abba Father.

Some pointers that I think attributed to today's run as I transit from the Asics 2140 to the Vibram:

1.  Switching over of running posture from 'Heel Striking' to 'Mid foot'
Don't wait till you get the 5 fingers.  Start now with the current running shoes.  (I got my info from Danny Dreyer and you get borrow the book from the NLB to learn about the techniques).  Pros from this - no more knee aches and a very fast recovery.

2.  Cadence and stride
Maintain a cadence of 85 to 90 and start with a shorter stride.  Feel the feet's landing position.

3.  Calf training
While I did not specifically did any Calf training,  I did some skipping (4 cycles intervals of 50 steps,  which I find it acceptable as cycles with 100 steps causes my knee pain to recur).  I believe this is the main reason that helps.  I have read reviews runners transiting over with calf solidification - it's no fun considering that I have actually torn a calf muscle before.

Apart from a blister that was due to a new 'shoe',  I am happy with this Vibram 5 fingers and will try to give another review sometime later. 

One thing am sure is there won't be any cushioning liquid leakage (don't worry, it's not Asics) or dynamic fatigue of the foam in cushioned shoes - there is none.  It's like wearing a toughen skin over your sole. Bare foot running.  Feels like the days' of the fabled Marathon.

Giving thanks and have a blessed day!




Other related sources of information
1. Bare foot running in SGrunners forum
2. Krisandro's Experience on Vibram
3. Barefoot Pua's blog and his review