Back To The Grind & Some Diversions

Thanks for all the messages posted in response to my Singapore race report. With 2 weeks to go to the New Year, there's one final event left to run, which is this Sunday's Mizuno Wave 10K. I've not run a single step since the marathon, even though I could've, except to chase after Carbo Kid. The other contributing factors were the piling work resulting from my 1 week's Singapore vacation and subsequently 2 days of on-the-job training on Creativity. The major project which I'm leading has also run into a glitch and the boss had given me another high profile assignment. Then I was feeling a little under the weather due to my nose which has been troubling me the last 1 week. Coupled with insufficient sleep, all that stress is a pot of brewing trouble waiting to boil over. I will catch up on sleep and naps this weekend.

No expectations this Sunday except to have a good time catching up with running friends again. I'll be running easy the first half of the race since the course passes through the double hill section and then depending on condition (the leg speed must've deteriorated somewhat, I'm sure) I'll take it from there on the downhills until the finish line.

 

The start to 2006 will see an unusual number of longer runs leading to the KL Marathon in March. There's the Great Eastern 30K and the 2 practice runs to look forward to before the marathon, therefore the mileage game will have to continue. Perhaps after the marathon, I'll be able to refocus on a couple of 10Ks to maintain some sharpness, which is always good.

On the listening front, I'm now revisiting my favourite Spyro Gyra tunes from their Very Best Of album. I remembered watching them live (another concert I had the fortune of attending was one by David Sanborn) the PWTC for RM40 many many years ago and was enthralled by the level of professionalism they brought to the stage. After procrastinating on whether to buy it when it was on sale here (it's no longer available in KL now), I finally bought it from Grammophon in Singapore. All the songs bear testament to the band's superb gelling in presenting music that bridges contemporary, latino, smooth, neo-classical jazz. My favourite track is The Unknown Soldier but I could sit through double playing of the album with no problems.

The band is awesomely tight like The Rippingtons but unlike The Ripps whom rely heavily on the "Russ Freeman sound" which can be a little tiring these days compared to their halycon days of the late 80's and early 90's, Spyro Gyra's creativity lies in their ability to create diversity around Jay Beckenstein's trademark sax. To learn more about its current members click here.