Life to the Full

Roadies' Guide to Triathletes

2009-03-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

We use aero bars even on road bikes simply because it is more efficient. Get over it.
We tend to ride up front and pull because we are trying to get used to riding against the wind - drafting is illegal in most Triathlons - not because we are showing off or trying to prove that the aero gadgets are working.
We tend to bring a few bottles to get used to re-fueling on the go, not because we tend to drink more.
Sometimes we wear Tri suits or shorts to group rides because we intend to go for a transition run after the ride, not because we are anti roadie fashion (is that term an oxy moron?).
Pt 2 & Pt 4 together is why we tend to pull up front for most of the ride, and then slow down and fall back at the end of the ride. We are trying to rest/stretch before going into the transition run.
Pt 4 is also the reason why we don't usually stay for the after ride chat/breakfast. We are actually pretty sociable people.
Pt 4 is also why we wear ankle socks (running socks) rather than the roadie (above ankle) socks.

It's 2009!

2008-12-31T23:07:00.000-08:00

As I think about 2009 and what it will bring, I am beset by mixed feelings of anticipation and cautiousness.

This year, I start to teach Sunday School. I have been helping with the Toddler's Ministry at church (for 3 year olds and below) for the last few years, but this year I jump into the deep-end to take on a class of Primary 6 kids (11 to 12 year olds). Pre-teens are a tough bunch to reach, especially when the world has so many distractions for them - e.g. exams, social pressures, X-box, PSP, Wii, Hannah Montana, iCarly, etc... I am praying that I may be relevant to them, and hopefully point them to the fullness of life that Christ came to give us.

Besides Sunday School, I will be continuing to help out with the Kid's Soccer ministry on Saturdays, and also continuing to lead my Care Group "Life with Christ". Kid's Soccer is supposed to be a "soft evangelism" ministry, but we did not quite get there in 2008 as most of the kids were our own church kids, and it did not help that there was a long disruption at the end of the year when the soccer field was not available. 2009 brings a new venue for Kid's Soccer and hopefully we grow this into a outreach ministry for the kids. In terms of my Care Group, it has been a gnawing thought in my mind that I have not done enough as a CG leader. We do not seem to have a clear vision/objective, and as such it is hard to say if we made progress in 2008. I need to figure out a way to balance the group's social needs (we love to chat) and chalk up some tangible spiritual growth.

Perhaps the most important requirement of serving (and my weak point) is a humble, willing and committed heart, especially when the pressures of life set in. Please pray for me, that I will follow through and serve with all of my mind, my heart and my strength in 2009.

Work-wise, I think 2009 will bring new challenges with the anticipated economic slowdown. Some say that the real test of management occurs during hard times, and having managed a team through the Asian financial crisis some years back, I tend to agree. That was one of the most stressful work experiences I have ever had. It doesn't take a genius to cut cost and improve short-term profitability, but the real challenge is how to manage costs and yet still find new avenues of business growth/sustainability. There is already a lot of talk that 2009 will be tougher than the last Asian financial crisis, so things could get rather interesting/challenging.

On the family front, R2 goes to "real" school in 2009 - Primary 1 (i.e. Elementary School) - no more kindergarden stuff. Sigh, my babies have grown up and we have to start getting serious about schoolwork and exams and such... Will R1 continue to do well in school? How will the baby of the house (R2) adapt to school life? What activities/clubs should we sign R1 up for? How do we maintain a healthy balance of academic achievement and just letting them have fun? I still can't believe R2 goes to Primary School tomorrow! With R1 and R2 both going to Primary School, the entire family will be up at 6am every weekday, which is probably a good way for me to get into the discipline of getting up early and getting some exercise in before work.

Talking about exercise, 2009 brings me back to going slow and long after a 2-month hiatus. I am trying not to think about how much fitness/speed I have lost (not that I have ever been particularly fast, which only makes things worse), nor about the pain of getting back into training mode. I did manage to add some cool stuff to the bike, which I will write about next time.

Yikes almost forgot to introduce my young bloggers in the family:

Have a blessed 2009!

Seeing RED...

2008-08-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Bought this Japanese made Pearl Izumi Tri suit for the bargain basement price of SGD$99 (USD$70, 60% off retail price)! Ok, so it is an older model and probably not the best looking suit, but the quality is excellent and the chamois is just about perfect for me - I don't much like those towel thin "terry cloth" type of Tri suit padding so common nowadays.

I was actually checking out another Pearl Izumi suit marked down 40% to SGD$156 (USD$111), which has black/white/grey, and a much better match to my bike. Just before paying, I saw the one above on a rack, which is an even older model with the "unfashionable" red side panels. I had to smile to myself, because less than 2 months ago, I ended up buying a more expensive grey helmet instead of just using the replacement red helmet, just because of vanity - I wanted it to match my bike. This despite my buddy and Mrs Nitrox both preferring the red helmet, and despite the still small voice in my head telling me to stop being so vain. Oh well, another lesson in life, I guess.

On the training front, after a break of more than a month, I am finally easing back into training. Easing being the primary word here. Been a busy stretch at work, been travelling 3 of the last 4 weeks and will be travelling again next week, this time to Sydney & Melbourne.

20/20 Vision

2008-08-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

I am writing this, sitting in my hotel room in Malaysia, missing my family and feeling heavy in my heart because it seems R1 may need glasses (he is coming to 8). It has always been my hope that my children will grow up with 20/20 vision, even though nowadays most Singaporean kids develop Miyopia at a very early stage.

Incidentally, my daily scripture reading today brings me to Ezekiel 20:20, which says that God, in His perfect vision, has given us the Sabbath as a means to remember that He is the LORD our God. I have always wondered what's the fuss with the Sabbath, and why God put so much emphasis on it in the Old Testament, and is it still relevant to us today? This verse reminds me that God gave us Sunday to keep us real. He gave us Sabbath so that in coming to church and in worshipping/serving Him, we will be reminded that He is our God, and not be distracted/misled/discouraged by the world. Amen!

My Country, My Home

2008-08-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Singapore's National Day is just around the corner, and this year marks the 1st year where we proudly fly the flag at our apartment. My father has been loyally flying his national flag at this house every August for as long as I can remember, but this is the 1st time we're doing it. Maybe I am getting sentimental with age.

On the bible reading front, would you believe that since my last post on this in June, I have caught up with my "reading deficit" of 40 days and is now right on schedule again? Yup, I have been making use of the extra time during taper and the rest weeks after OSIM Tri to do some mugging. =) Now that I have finally caught up with the daily readings, I am running out of excuses to be still resting...

"Little Brother" By Mildred Mead

2008-07-26T02:35:00.000-07:00

Another semester, another show and tell...

OSIM Triathlon Pictures

2008-07-24T06:05:00.001-07:00

Hi all, my OSIM Triathlon pictures are out and I have put them up on here on FaceBook. I must be gettin vain because this time I am tempted to buy a softcopy of one of them, so while you are there, please do 2 things:

1. If you have a facebook account, add me. :-)

2. Help me choose which photo I should buy. I think my current favourite is this one.

10min Video on How to Fix a Flat

2008-07-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

Got a special deal on this tyre (Panaracer Stradius Elite Z 700X20C) at my LBS simply because it was the last one they have left. So I have done the radical - run 20C tyres at the front and 23C tyres at the rear. It works for rear wheel drive sports cars, so I guess it will work for my bike too. =)

Since I have to switch my current front tyre to the rear, and install this new tyre on the front, I offered to show a friend how to change a flat. Unfortunately, he got busy during the weekend and I fly off to India on Monday, so this video is for you, Philip. :-) What I forgot to say on the video is that if you've got a flat while out riding, it is IMPORTANT to thoroughly check the tyre after it is removed. Feel the entire length on the inside of the tyre and remove foreign objects if any. And of course, if the tyre is damaged, get your LBS to check if it needs to be replaced.

Rest and Repair

2008-07-19T00:14:00.001-07:00

I guess it's time for rest and repair these 2 weeks before I re-start training again.

The same goes for my gear. First up new running shoes - these just arrived at the store and I got myself a pair. The sales guy told me I have the second pair to be sold in Singapore (someone else bought the 1st pair in the morning). Have not gone for a test run yet, but with so much techno mumbo jumbo, it's gotta be good! (The 30% discount I got for my TAS membership also helped.) :-D

Secondly, I managed to nick my rear tyre side wall somehow. Noticed a "bulge" which upon closer inspection revealed the fibres of the side wall construction (see below). Guess I better get a new rear tyre. I must say that I have not been impressed with the wet weather peformance of the Continental GP4000, so I think I may try another tyre.

Just realised that my spare inner tube work not work with my new wheels without a valve extender, so I think I will save myself the hassle and get a spare inner tube with a longer valve stem. Good thing I have a buddy who just got his first road bike, so the my current spare inner tube is not wasted. :-)

Doom & Gloom Friday

2008-07-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

On the way to work, the calendar in my phone reminded me that in 586 B.C. today, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. (Yes, I have a calendar entry for that.)

Then when I got to the office, the TV in the pantry said that Saunier Duval-Scott withdrew from the Tour de France thanks to Riccardo Ricco's cheating antics. My Finnish colleague (who cycles) said "Are these cyclists stupid or what?". I quite agree. The saddest part is that the general public does not even react to news about doping in cycling anymore. Perhaps the only good thing in all this is that Cadel Evans (Australian rider for the Silence-Lotto team) is in the overall lead by one second over Frank Schleck of CSC Saxo Bank. Which means there's a good chance that either the Austalian underdog will win this, or a Cervélo - Canadian triathlon bike builder- (also an underdog amongst the big road bike brands) will. I like it when underdogs win, so maybe I will keep following the news. :-)

Official Race Timing - OSIM Triathlon

2008-07-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

Swim: 00:53:37
Bike: 01:23:10 (includes T1)
Run: 01:08:26 (includes T2)
Total: 03:25:13
Position: 75/118 - Age Group Olympic Distance Male (40 - 44 YEARS)

I DID IT! (OSIM Triathlon Race Report)

2008-07-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

Praise God, I have finally completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon! You ironmen/iron ladies out there will laugh at this, but it was much tougher than I thought it would be.

Pre-Race
I slept rather well last night, none of the usual nervous energy that keeps me awake before races - I think not having any expectations except to try to finish works well for me. The nice thing about my wave starting at 10:40am is that I can wake up late and have a leisurely breakfast - coffee and 4 pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey. I even managed to take a quick self protrait before setting off (sorry for the poor aim, there's not much hair left up there anyway). :-)I arrived more than an hour before my wave starts, which gave me loads of time to fuss over my transition area. I even had time to watch some of the elite triathletes flying by the transition area - man, they are fast!

Swim (2 X 750m)
While waiting for the swim, I overhead the announcers making multiple warnings of a rough swim due to strong winds - seems the fastest swim by the "elites" has dropped from 16min (last year) to 21min. That's a whopping 30% increase! I tried not to think about it too much, and got in a quick warm-up swim, and sure enough, it was choppy. I even managed to drink some yucky sea water in the warm-up swim thanks to the chop. Not good.
Nervous minutes ticked by and it was my wave start. Perhaps having the mental expectation of a tough swim helped, and I did not struggle too much. I tried to relax and just bob along with the waves, so the swim did not turn out as uncomfortable as the NUS Biathlon. Still, there was lots of physical contact pretty much throughout the swim because the current was causing us to bunch up into groups. I even got kicked in the face twice by guys swimming breast stroke - which is exactly why I use a swim mask instead of those tiny goggles. Swim Time: >50mins.

Bike (4 X 10km)
The good thing about being a slow swimmer is that there is loads of room at the transition to put on my socks and cycling shoes. :-) I have always liked cycling, so was happy to be able to pick up the pace from the start and catch quite a few people early on. I don't like to fuss with HRM/speed/cadence meters in races. I like to just feel the wind in my face, and hear the buzz from the drive train. I had decided to put a bottle of Gatorade on the bike (which I would finish during the bike leg) and also a gel for "spare". The 1st 3 laps went by in a blur, and I was having fun. Lap 4 is when I started to tire, and I just could not keep up the pace and stay on the aero bars consistently. The sun was bearing down and I could feel the uncomfortable feeling that my entire back is dry and hot - mental note: maybe bring a bottle of water instead next time so I can splash some on my head and back. I decided to take the gel and wash it down with Gatorade - yummy! Decided to slow down and leave some strength for the run. Bike time: 1:20?

Run (2 X 5km)
The run was a totally different matter - I just never got up to pace on the run. It felt like I was just "surviving" and trying to make the distance. Somehow the 5km loop felt like it was going on forever - Mental note: maybe I gotta check the run distance sensor on my Polar, perhaps I am running short during training. Turning back for the 2nd 5km loop was a real morale buster - it was all I could do to keep running and not give up. Out of the blue, it started raining - a sudden tropical downpour. I didn't exactly pray for rain, but I did tell R1 & R2 that if it rained, it might be a good thing because the noon sun can be pretty terrible in this part of the world. I was thankful for the rain, it brought cool relief, but the downpour soon soaked my shoes and made them heavy and uncomfortable. I gotta be careful what I wish for, I guess. :-) Somewhere along the 2nd loop, I gave up my target time of 60mins and re-set the target to just being able to complete without walking. I was telling myself, "God brought the rain, you better not give up." :-) Run time: 1:10 (?)

So all in, a tough event for me. I did wear my trusty Timex, but I managed to mess up the lap times, so you will have to wait for the official results to see how I did. I did not put in quite as much training as I would have liked, so I am very thankful to be able to finally complete my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. There's actually a Night Olympic Triathlon in Oct, but that's the LAST thing I wanna think about right now. :o)

All Packed and Ready to Go

2008-07-11T23:26:00.001-07:00

I have rather mixed feelings as I packed for tomorrow. I am thankful to be able to train and participate, but would have liked to put in more training. Then again, I guess I will always like to have put in more training. :-)

This will be my 1st real attempt at a Olympic Distance Triathlon - the same event got rained out last year and it so discouraged me that I actually stopped blogging for quite a while. When I look back, I may have been just as physically ready then as I am now, but mentally perhaps I just wasn't ready for it last year. A lot of thoughts are going thru my mind right now: With a late start (my wave starts at 1040am), would it get too hot? I did most of my training in the coolness of the morning or evening, will I be able to cope with the weather? Is my fueling plan correct? I will be biking/running through lunch-time, will I get hungry? Will it rain, and would my GP4000 tyres grip well in the wet? Is it gonna be strong currents like the NUS Biathlon? I usually get stitches in my sides in races, will they come back to haunt me again tomorrow? I had planned to do some light training during taper week, but I had to go to Manila and just could not squeeze in any training - have I lost form during taper week?

Then again, I think back 3-4 years ago when I could hardly swim 100m, bike 20km or run 5km, and was 16kg heavier than I am now, I guess I have come a long way. It has been frustrating many a time for me to note just how GRADUAL the improvements in speed and distance are coming along, but I cannot deny that I have gotten faster and fitter over the years. Am I going to complete the race tomorrow? I can't be 100% sure. But I am reminded that it is this uncertainty that draws me to Triathlons - the uncertainty that forces me to be humble and to just depend on Him.

God Willing, I will finish my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon tomorrow. See you at the finish line.

One Last S-T-R-E-T-C-H

2008-07-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last STRETCH workout before the Olympic Distance Triathlon next Sunday:

Swam: 550m front crawl, 440m kicking (with buoy), 440m pulling (with buoy), 550m front crawl - total distance swam 1980m
Biked: 67km
Ran: 7.5km

Think I am ready? Somewhere between now and next Sunday is when I start asking myself questions like: Can I really do this? What was I thinking when I signed up? Wouldn't it be really embarassing if I got fished out of the sea during the swim? I wonder how many people in mountain bikes are gonna pass me in my carbon tricked-out speed machine? I just gotta take my own medicine and remember to commit my works to the LORD. HE will see me thru, AMEN!

LORD, Establish My Thoughts!

2008-06-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

According to my inbox, I am now 167 days into into my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan, and 37 days behind schedule, so I slowly but steadily making progress to catch up. :-)

I have finished reading the book of Proverbs, and am going thru 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. A particular verse really spoke to me:

"Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established." (Proverbs 16:3, NKJV)

I have been rather unsettled lately, there just seems so much to think about in just about every aspect of my life - my job, family, even training. This verse reminds me that everything that I do, I am to commit to the Lord. Meaning, whatever I do, I do unto the Lord and to the best of my abilities/resources, and then I leave the OUTCOME to God. Only then, will my thoughts be truly established - i.e. only then, will I have true peace.

So at work, there may be uncertainties around changing job scope, but I just do what I can for the good of the company and the people I work with, and leave the rest to God. If my job scope increases, I praise God for enlarging my tent and use my increased influence to do more for Him. If my job scope reduces, I praise God that He is in charge and gives me the work that He wants me to do.

In training, even though I have lost 4 weeks of training and my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon is less than 2 weeks away, I just enjoy the training I can still put in, and leave the outcome to God. If I complete the triathlon, I praise God that He gave me the strength and fitness to do so. If I have to pull out halfway, I praise God that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and for the priviledge of being able to swim, bike and run.

In my family, I accept that it is a journey with God, and trust Him to provide for us, protect us and lead us, come what may. I hold onto the truth that His will is to prosper us and not to harm us, and that Jesus has already come to destroy the works of the devil, and He has left us the Holy Spirit to continue to do so and establish His kingdom here on earth.

It's funny how the most powerful truths in God's kingdom are also the really simple ones. Truly our God is an awesome and wise God. Amen!

New Helmet - Uvex Boss Race

2008-06-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry the picture turned out quite small, but if you look VERY carefully, you will see that I managed to crack my helmet - a MET Sfero (only 2+ years old). Don't worry, I didn't fall or anything. Not entirely sure why it developed a hair-line crack. I get to buy a replacement helmet (same model) for half price, which I will sell to buy this beauty - the Uvex Boss race helmet.

Why didn't I just use the replacement helmet? Well, because the replacement helmet did not meet the most important requirement for bicycle helmets. It did not match the colour of my bicycle. :-) Yes a poor reason for spending twice my budget for a helmet, but middle aged men are vain that way. In fact the helmet cost so much that I am also selling my Mavic Ksyrium Equipe wheels and Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps racing clinchers. Had intended to keep them as training wheels, but my new carbon aero wheels are so sturdy that I will just use them as both training and race wheels.

So PLEASE tell me that my new helmet matches my bike perfectly... :-D

2 weeks from my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon which means 6 more training days before my 1 week taper. Thankfully I did not seem to have lost much fitness in the 4 weeks of on-again/off-again training, God Willing, I will complete it.

World's 1st Night Triathlon in Singapore!

2008-06-24T04:52:00.000-07:00

Just when I was mulling over how to be ready for the OSIM International Triathlon on 13th July, this popped up in the local newspaper - World's 1st Night Triathlon in Singapore (18th Oct). Not sure if there is an element of over-enthusiastic news reporting with regards to the "World's 1st" part, but a night triathlon sure sounds interesting when day time temperatures hovers from 30 to 33 C (85 to 90 F).

I am very tempted to sign up for this one, especially since my training plan for the coming OSIM International Triathlon got de-railed by business travels, vacation and illness. The article above says that it will be a time trial swim start, which will be a welcome break from the usual "kick ya goggles off" mass start. It also says that "the swim course will ... follow the coastline, instead of the out-and-back swim courses seen in regular triathlons". That would also be another interesting change. The bike and run route will be right in the city/CBD (Central Business District) area, which should be quite fun - usually these roads are chock-a-block with vehicular traffic and probably not ideal for a ride or run.

Early bird registration ends on 15th July, and I am guessing that it is not an accident that this is 2 days after the OSIM International Triathlon. I think like many others, I will make up my mind after OSIM. :-)

Intimacy

2008-06-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

I am now 153 days into into my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan, and a 40 days behind schedule, so I have caught up a little.

Today I my readings bring me to the Song of Songs, and it feels like things have come full circle. Back in Dec 2006, at our bi-annual church camp, this was where the speaker pointed me to. He told to look into the Song of Songs to find intimacy with God. He also said that when I have intimacy with God, others will see the presence of God in my life. I must confess that I don't think I have reached a deeper level of intimacy with God. I try to read His Word regularly, and I try to pray regularly, but I don't think I have grown significantly more intimate with God. I still feel as though I am too pre-occupied with this world - my job, family, training, etc... Please continue to pray for a break though for me in this area.

Talking about training, I am getting anxious. I am finally getting better (sore throat is gone and I have stopped snortin'/hackin' out greenish stuff), but I have lost 4 weeks of training to business travels, vacation/church camp and this virus attack. The OSIM Triathlon (my 1st Oly Tri ever - last year's race got rained out) is 4 weeks away, which means I have the next 3 weeks to pile on the training before tapering on the 4th week. I don't even know what I should be doing anymore - will the training I put in these 3 weeks even make any difference to my race form on Jul 13th, or is it just a mental/confidence exercise? I really do not want to pull out from the race, so I will probably just take it easy and if I can't finish it, tough.

The positive side of not being to train is more time with the family, which is always a welcome thing. This week is the last week of June school holidays so it was good to be able to spend some time at the beach...

God-Who-Forgives

2008-06-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

According to my mailbox, I am 146 days into my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan, and a whopping 43 days behind schedule!

Just came across this verse that speaks so much about our God's nature:
"... You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds." Psalm 99:8

Truly He forgives the sinner yet punishes the sin. Praise God!

I am less than a month away from my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon (again), and it is not looking good. Training has come to pretty much a stand-still in the last few weeks due to business travels, vacation in Malaysia and I have gone from sore throat to snortin' out green stuff in the morning. Maybe I will call it an extended taper. ;-)

Beware the Comfort Zone!

2008-06-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

Comfort zone: That comfortable place in our lives where we can finally sit back, rest and coast a little (my definition). I now believe it also fertile ground for the devil to interfere with God's plan to prosper and bless us, so I am burdened in my heart to share this (rather long) message with you.

But before that... We have been at church camp, where we were much blessed by an anointed speaker - Pastor Henry Madava. Pastor Madava is a Zimbabwean who heads a church in Kiev, Ukraine, which in itself is a interesting testamony of the work of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Henry has the gift of teaching (he makes complex things simple) and the gift of healing. You can read some of the amazing healing testamonies from our church camp here. Truly He that is in us is greater than he that is in this world, and the Holy Spirit never rests from working against the works of the devil. Praise God!

As is often the case with anointed speakers, many things Henry spoke about jumped out at me. In particular, his preaching on Joseph and how to be a champion for God continued to play in my mind for many days after the camp. The Scripture says to test everything that we are taught (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and upon prayerful reflection on his sermon on Joseph, my current readings on David, and the ups and downs in my walk with God, I am convinced that the comfort zone is a dangerous place to be. In fact, being stretched and tested seems to be a pre-requisite for growth in the Lord.

When I look at great men that God used - like Moses, Joseph, David, etc - He never did allow them to get into any sort of comfort zone. At no point were they able to sit back and "coast" for a while. For a few years now, I have been asking God to make me more and more like Joseph and David. Joseph was blessed with success in whatever he put his hands to, and because of the Lord's favour upon him, he was a blessing to his family, boss, king and even to the nations around him. David was arguably the greatest king the Israelites ever had, and he had such initmacy with God that he was called a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22).

But sometimes I forget that David (and Joseph) did not have it easy in life. David started fighting and killing lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-36) when most of us were struggling to get to school on time! Even after his famous victory over Goliath, he had the privilege to be appointed the royal harp player to a king who would occasionally try to kill him with a spear when David was playing for him (1 Samuel 18:10-11). After being anointed as king by God (thru Samuel), he still had to spend many years escaping/hiding from King Saul who was bent on killing him despite his repeated demonstrations of allegiance.

Even after King Saul died, and David was finally crowned as the new king, he never really did rule in peace. The bible tells that David had to contend with the shifting alliances and personal agendas that we now call politics. For instance, David had to appoint Joab as his army commander, a man of unsavoury character who committed pre-medidated murder. Joab was a man who stooped so low as to abuse God's law to lure Abner to the gates of Hebron - one of the cities of refuge God gave to the Levites to show mercy to innocent men who accidentally kills another - and kill him there. Joab lured Abner to Hebron (despite the fact that David has reconciled with Abner and made a covenant with him) and murdered him right at the gate (2 Samuel 3:20-27), so that he could have cold blooded revenge without facing the consequences. In fact, Joab was also the one who finally killed David's son, Absalom, despite strict instruction from David to his army not to harm him. Imagine being David and having to live with one such as this leading all your army - it truly gives me pause when I start to complain about "problematic" staff that I have to manage at work!

And when did David finally fall, and kill one of his most loyal and dilligent soldiers to steal his wife Bathsheba? It was "at the time when kings go out to battle", but David sent Joab and stayed behind in the comfort of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). Perhaps that was when David finally got into a comfort zone, when his armies was at war, but he felt that he need not go with them anymore. Instead, he was in his house in Jerusalem, when he arose from his bed, walked on the roof of his house, and saw Bathsheba, which then led to a whole string of sin, deception and finally murder. Compare that to Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, who refused to go into the comfort of his own house despite being called back to Jerusalem by King David, because his loyalty to his commander and his fellow troops would not allow him to do so, when they were all still out there in the battlefield (2 Samuel 11:6-13). For his sin, David paid a heavy price and lost a son.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain why I feel there is cause for us to beware the comfort zone - just like in Tri training, if we are not stretching, we are probably not growing stronger. But the message is not all doom and gloom, because even though tests in life come to tempt us to give up on God, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), and we know that what does not destroy us, only makes us stronger. Amen!

Proudly Brought to You by the Youth of CMC

2008-06-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

Found this quite by accident on YouTube. Written and performed by the youths in our church - Christ Methodist Church. I am SO proud of our youths. Sometimes looking at them, it is easy to think that they are just another noisy, rebellious bunch. But it is very inspiring and humbling to see that despite the many distractions/snares out there, our youths are walking and rocking with Jesus. Praise God, truly He that is in us is greater than he that is in this world. Amen!

Mr Roboto

2008-06-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

My 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon (Again)

2008-05-31T02:58:00.000-07:00

I'm off to church camp for a week, and when I am back, I will be a month away from my 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon (again) - got rained out last year. I'm not quite as prepared as I would like to be (and learning that I will probably never be quite as prepared as I would like to be), so I will aim to complete and not compete in my 1st O. D. Tri.

Given that training opportunities at church camp will be limited, I am pretty much counting on current fitness levels to pull me thru. I am now running 17km long slow runs (in 2 hours), 2.2km pool swims (in a little less than 55 mins), and 60km bike rides (followed by 5km transition run). Let's hope that enough. :-)

R1 & R2 Up the Ante!

2008-05-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

What is it about human nature that makes us want to keep doing things faster and better. To swim smoother, bike faster, run longer, and to go from 1 Hula Hoop to 2? ;-)

Wonderfully Apt

2008-05-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

1 Chronicles 1-10, 2 Samuel 1-4, Psalm 17, 121-125, 128-130, 6, 8-10, 14, 16, 19, 21, 43-45, 49, 84, 85, 87, 73, 77, 78, 81, 88, 92 ,93, 102-104 (13 days from http://www.bibleinayear.org/). In short, I am making SLOW progress catching up.

I believe one of the manifestations of the miracle of God's living word is how it is so wonderfully apt even today despite the huge change in historical/geographical/cultural context. This time, Psalms 73 really spoke to me, and I can find no better words to express how I have been feeling than these:

Psalms 73 (New King James)

1 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge[a] with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return here,
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.

21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.

Amen!

R1 & R2 discovers the Hula Hoop

2008-05-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

We are safe keeping a hula hoop for one of the lil' gals in the neighborhood (who left it in the playground). Looks like we gotta get one of our own now. 6-pack abs here we come! :-)

R2 pretty much got it 1st time around:

R1 had to practise a few times before he got it:

Sanctified to serve Him

2008-04-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

Just want to let you know that although I have gone quiet on my daily readings, I have NOT given up, in fact, I have been trying hard to catch-up. Since my last post (a month ago), I have covered Deuteronomy 30-34, Joshua 1-24, Judges 1-21, Ruth 1-4, 1st Samuel 1-24, and some chapters from Psalms (7, 27, 31, 34, 52, 56, 120, 140-142), which is a total of 27 days from http://www.bibleinayear.org/. So, no I did not manage to do much catching up. :-(

How can I do justice to all that the Lord has said through these chapters? I simply can't, there is just so much to write about. One thing that sticks to my mind as I look back now is that I remember getting depressed reading about how human nature forces us to behave like the Israelites in Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges - they were singularly unable to rise above their human nature and serve God, and today we are much the same way. We all have weaknesses in our lives that the Lord deals with, and some of these weaknesses have become such strongholds that we continually fall back into the same sins. But compared to the Israelites of old, we are so priviledged to have Jesus already come to die for us, and also to have Him tell us that He has removed our sins. Without Jesus, we simply cannot fulfill what we are made to do - to worship God.

Pictures from JP Morgan Chase Run

2008-04-28T04:12:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the JP Morgan Chase Run that I wrote about in this post.

Chilling out on the company bus. Hmmm.... I guess we were expecting a whole lot more to take the bus...

The obligatory team photo before the start. It's nice to be able to run right through the city centre, check out the city skyline in the back!

Let it be known that Ol' Nitrox takes his warm-ups very seriously. No need to ask who's that leaping off the ground then. ;-)

New Carbon Wheels!

2008-04-27T04:38:00.000-07:00

OK, technically they are not quite new. I bought them from a Finnish colleague at "buddy" price. He had them for a year or so and have been using them as race wheels for his BMC TT02. After trying the Easton EC90 tubulars, he had to get them, and I became the blessed owner of his carbon clinchers on Friday. Being colleagues and good friends at work, we did away with the second guessing and bargaining at comes with buying/selling, and I knew the wheels would be in good condition because he is quite a bike freak (like me). I also knew he would include the Titanium skewers and his almost new Continenal Grand Prix 4000s tyres, but was surprised on Friday was that he also included wheel bags and even a Dura Ace 9-speed casette for me as he knew I do not have one for the new wheels. Thanks Jarmo! As you can see from the pictures here, the wheels and even the tyres are in immaculate condition, so I am extremely chuffed to be blessed with these latest acquisitions.

OK, for the technically inclined, these are Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL Premium wheels (yes, quite a mouthful), and the main difference with the lesser priced Carbone SL is that the Premium comes with Titanium axle, nuts and skewers to reduce weight, and subdued white detailing (as opposed to the loud yellow decals on the SL). Technically, they are not really carbon wheels - as you can see, the rims (where the brake pads contact the wheels, and where the clincher tyres mount) are made of alloy. Only the 52mm "fairings" are made from carbon. As such they are not the lightest wheelsets out there, even for clinchers - 1755 grams per pair, compared to the likes of the ZIPP 404 clinchers @ 1660 grams and the Easton EA90 clinchers @ 1545 grams. Tubular wheelsets tend to be significantly lighter - e.g. ZIPP 404 tubulars @ 1252 grams and the Easton EA90 @ 1370 grams - but I can't be fussed with tubulars, glue/tape and pre-stretching. What's good about the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL Premium wheelset is that they have the reputation of being strong and stiff. Since I have time to ride only once a week, strong wheels are a key criteria as I have half a mind to use them as both training and racing wheels. (I am still holding onto my old Mavic Ksyrium Equipe wheelsets for wet weather riding, but leaning more and more towards selling them for some fast cash.)

Took them out for my 2 hr weekend ride this morning and I have to report that I am 100% satisfied. I was all smiles with the noticeable improvement in overall "smoothness" - e.g. free-wheeling produces a muted "purring" rather than the mechanical "clacking" I am use to. Ride quality is significantly improved, and overall response/turn-in is excellent. The wheels feel very solid and stiff even under full-on out-of-saddle stomping - this is no fragile carbon wheelset that I have to tread gingerly upon! :-) Given that my old Ksyrium Equipes are only about 100 grams heavier, there is no significant improvement in acceleration/pick-up, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a 5% improvement in average speed in my first ride today - i.e. 6mins improvement on a 2 hour ride despite a unusally hot and clammy day. Not sure if this is my enthusiasm coming through, and it is hopelessly unscientific to make conclusions from one test ride, so I will be keeping my eye on speed/total time taken for my rides in the next few weeks.

Ok, enough talk, now for the pictures:

I'm one of the bike "freaks" who proudly rack up my bike in the living room - Mrs Nitrox thinks of it as storage, but I see a work of art. :-) I still catch myself admiring it when I am watching TV sometimes - Besides being good wheels, the carbon aero fairings goes very well with the naked carbon weave on my Scott CR1 frame. :-)

Here's a close-up of the rear wheel:
And here's one of the front:

Yes, early test seems to suggest that it does go as fast as it looks. :-)

Best way to busy up the weekend...

2008-04-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I seem to have caught blogger constipation. So much has happened in the last 2 weeks so I have a feeling there will be multiple posts from me this weekend as I purge from my system all the pent up blogging. :-)

Was busy all last weekend - Yup, seems one of the best ways to busy up the weekend is to volunteer to babysit a 5 month old labrador puppy. It also helps that despite claims of being house broken, "Brother" (don't look at me, I didn't name him) peed on everywhere but the papers, and has the habbit of whinning/barking late at night and early in the mornings. Seriously though, it was good fun having him, and a good lesson for the boys on what it means to have a dog. Having Brother for the weekend also confirmed that R1 is the more emotional of my 2 boys - he cried when Brother was returned. R2, on the otherhand, was nonchalant abt the whole episode.

In terms of my daily bible reading, I am afraid I have now slipped to being an entire month behind schedule. :-( Given that the scriptures are being emailed daily to my office email account, this also reflects the sad state of where I am at work. I am literally getting "mailbox full" messages every 2-3 days so I am operating on the "if it is urgent, they will call me" mode. Hopefully when 1st June comes and I hand-over one of the 2 roles I am currently holding, things will get a little less crazy - call me the eternal optimist. :-)

Having said that, I did manage to inject a bit of work-life balance on Wed (23rd April) by participating in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge ® (5.6km road run). Hopefully I can share more pictures later when I copy them off my colleagues. We had a team from work ranging from sub 25mins sprinters to 60+mins strollers, and the company management was kind enough to sponsor race entry fees and even provide company team shirts. Over 10,000 runners showed up, many in their corporate colours, so it lended to a carnival atmosphere right in the centre of town. This was a "self seeding" race, which meant that we were supposed to line up at the start according to our expected finishing times, but it felt like we were the only ones doing it. You guys/gals know ol' nitrox ain't a fast runner, but I was dodging and weaving through strollers and joggers pretty much for the entire 5.6km route!

Despite that, I came in at 31:38 which is a decent timing for me (I am happy to turn in sub 30mins 5 km and sub 60mins 10km), and I was surprised to see that I was 7th in the team from work. :-) I started off pretty slowly as it was hard to settle into any sort of rhythm with the constant "stop-start" squeezing thru the joggers/walkers that decided they wanted to start in front. Felt good and comfortable throughout the run, and when I look back at where I was 3 years ago when even 2.4km was too far to run, I am amazed that 5.6km is considered a short run for me now. I looked at the guys/gals struggling through the route and think to myself "that was me just a few short years ago", and am encouraged that the training has made some tangible difference - Praise God! It is easy to forget that I am getting fitter and stronger when I am putting in the training hours and still rounding out the bottom of the pack in races. :-))

More big news to share including yet another sexy bit of "go faster" kit for my bike, but more on that later...

Profile Design Lightning Styke (Lotsa Pictures!)

2008-04-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

Woohoo, I finally have my Profile Design Lightning Stryke installed on my 2005 Scott CR1 Team, and headed out for my weekend 2 hr ride yesterday. I couldn't find much useful information on this clip-on bar in the Web, nor could I find pictures of it actually installed on a bike, much less a road bike, so I have taken the liberty to include lotsa pictures. The short of it is that I found them to be comfortable and fast, and got it dialed up just right after a few quick stops for minor adjustments. In case anyone is wondering about the red bar tape, I was too cheap to buy an entire roll just to tape up the bar ends, so I ended up with used bar tape at the LBS. Would have prefered white (to match the rest of the bike), but the wallet prevailed. :-)

When it comes to using clip-on aero bars on a road bike (with a drop bar), I think I am one of many who have learnt things the hard way. There just is not a whole lot of relevant information about how to choose a clip-on bar, and what works best on a road bike with drop bars. Road bikes tend to have longer top tubes, which makes mounting a clip-on bar tricky. My previous Deda Clip-One looked good and worked great, except for 2 problems:

The elbow rests are mounted on top of the drop bar, which meant very little fore-aft positioning of the elbow rests are possible. This can be a problem especially on road bikes because the long top tube may put the elbow rests (on top of the flats of the top bars) too far away from you, which results in a "stretched" position when you are in full aero tuck. [Read: Tired neck, shoulders and back after a couple of hours in aero position.] The picture on the right is what my Deda Clip-One looked like mounted on my bike, compare it with the pictures below of the new Lightning Styke clip-on bar.

The Clip-One comes in two sizes (26.0 or 31.7mm diameter handlebars), this means that if (as in my case) your handlebars have 31mm shoulders that taper to 26mm, you need to fashion your own "adapter" (in my case, used MTB handle grips).

If you look carefully at the picture on the right, you will notice that the Profile Design Ligthtning Styke solves the above 2 problems for me, because it mounts on the stem and not the base bar. This means that: (1) I can position the elbow pads much nearer to me (which mitigates the longer top tube on a road bike), and (2) I don't have to worry that my drop bar has 31mm shoulders that taper to 26mm.

The Lightning Stryke also comes with pretty high spacers to raise the elbow rests above the base bar, so if you decide to use them (as I did in the picture above), much of the flats of the base bar becomes accessible. I.e. now I can also grip the flats of my drop bar in case I need to sit a little more upright in climbs or just to ease my aging back. :-) With the Deda Clip-One, the elbow rests mounted onto the flats on the base bar itself, which means I had to hold onto the elbow rests instead of the flats if I want to sit upright. That always made me feel a little odd (especially since I have difficulty getting the elbow rests mounted securely despite my home made "adapters" - see previous paragraph).

Perhaps one last nugget of information before I let the pictures do the talking. The Lightning Stryke comes with 2 choices for how far apart the elbow rests are. This is certainly more restrictive than the Deda Clip-One simply because you can mount the elbow rests anywhere on the flats of the base bar. I found that even the widest setting for the elbow rests were more narrow than where I had my Deda Clip-One elbow rests, but even this ol' body adjusted to that pretty quickly. I used to have my elbows outside of my knees with the Deda Clip-One, and now my elbows are aligned pretty much straight on with my knees. This means that even though technically I can set the Lightning Stryke elbow rests much nearer to me (by using the 6 available fore-art positions), I had to reach a compromise position so that (1) my knees don't knock into my elbows when I am seated, and (2) my knees don't knock into the elbow rests when I am "stomping" out of the saddle. As you can see from the pictures above, I still ended up 2 inches nearer, which goes a long way toward mitigating for the longer tube tube of a road bike.

Clip-on Aero Bars Work!

2008-04-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

Yup, I have removed my clip-on aero bar. The "go faster" kit that I hinted at was a new carbon clip-on bar to replace the Deda Clip One (more here) that I have been using for over 2 years now. Well, the LBS ordered the wrong stem and so now I am without a clip-on aero bar for a few days. So, off I go for my weekend ride, and you know what? I was consistently approx 3km/hr slower in the flats. At my (slow) bike speed, this equates to almost a whopping 10% decrease in speed!

I have always felt that having the clip-ons make a lot of difference, and now I know for sure. So if you are considering clip-on aero bars for your road bike, GO GET THEM!

So why did I decide to replace my trusty ol' Dedas and what difference does it make? Well, you'll just have to wait till I get the new clip-on aero bar installed (hopefully tomorrow). :-)

Rejoice!

2008-04-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

I have definitely fallen behind in my daily scripture reading. It has been almost a month since my last post, and I have only covered 14 days of bible reading from http://www.bibleinayear.org/ - Numbers 28-36, Deuteronomy 1-29. :-(

As I recall the chapters that I have read, I am reminded that we are commanded by God to rejoice in Him. In the book of Deuteronomy alone, it was commanded 8 times (or more): Deuteronomy 12:7, 12:12, 12:18, 14:26, 16:11, 16:14, 16:15, 26:11, and probably summarised in the verse "... you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house ..." (Deut 26:11, New King James version). It does not say "you will rejoice" nor does it say "it's good for you to rejoice", it says "you shall rejoice, which implies that what is required is a conscious effort to rejoice in Him, even as we remember God's awesome grace in our everyday lives.

I have to confess that this is an area of failing in my life. Whenever the troubles at work becomes too much to bear, I tend to start looking for things of the world to retore my peace and joy - be it training or dreams about "extravagent luxuries". I'm struggling with what it means to derive joy from the Lord - I am sure that He blesses us with material things out of love, just as I want to give R1 & R2 nice things, but I sometimes find it hard to make sure that I am seeking Him and not His blessings.

Updates

2008-03-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been more than 2 weeks since my last post? Where has all the time gone?

So much has happened since then. I had to stop training for an entire month - essentially sincce the NUS (National University of Singapore) Biathlon - and am finally easing back into training. I am not quite back to race fitness yet, but getting there SLOWY. This week I hope to get back to my full training week - 2 runs, 2 swims, 1 strength training, and 1 long brick. As usual when my training level drops, I start thinking about adding/replacing new go-after kit, so keep your eyes on this space, I am receiving my latest "go faster" kit for the bike this week! :-)

On the home front, the latest news is that R2 fractured his elbow last Saturday night. The lil' guy was playing with some friends after dinner and running with much abandonement when he fell awkwardly. One look at the right elbow and it was pretty obvious that "something is wrong" - there was a lot of swelling and it looked like something was jutting out. So we rush to the A&E (Accident and Emergency) ward of the children's hospital where they confirmed that he has a fracture just above the elbow joint. They were a little concerned as the fracture is very near the joint, but there was too much swelling for proper diagnosis to be done. So they put a full splint on him and we are to go back for consultation with the orthopedic specialist on Thurs.

We were graced with a miracle at the A&E: The poor guy was clearly in pain and was not a happy camper at all for the entire period after he fell to while we were waiting at the A&E. He was cried and complained of intense pain, and finally settled down but his face was screwed up in pain. While waiting, we prayed over him and Mrs Nitrox also text'ed some of her "Mummies support group" to pray for R2. Literally within seconds of laying hands on his elbow and asking the Holy Spirit to come and heal him, he went from being in pain and miserable, to being his usual cheerful self. The doctors were amazed that he was so "cooperative" even when the splint was going on - they warned us that it might hurt, but all R2 was concerned about was not getting the plaster on his shirt! :-) PRAISE GOD! The doctors can't be sure if the fracture needs to be re-aligned (hence the need to come back to see the orthopedic specialist on Thurs when the swelling has come down). But, encouraged by the miracle, we are trusting by faith that the Lord is healing his little elbow, and continue to pray that R2 will receive 100% restoration in his right elbow without surgery. Please do continue to agree with us in prayer too!

Since coming back from the A&E, R2 has been pretty much his normal cheerful self (as you can see from the pictures). He does complain of some pain now and then, but it is more like 3-5/10 level of pain (right after the fall was 8-10/10, and after we prayed for him at A&E it went down to 0-2/10) . Most of the time, he is reporting 0/10 in terms of pain, so we are not even giving him the prescribed pain meds - Ibuprofen - just children's Panadol once so far. Encouraged by the miracle, we are trusting by faith that the Lord is healing his little elbow, and continue to pray that R2 will receive 100% restoration in his right elbow without surgery. Please do continue to agree with us in prayer too! Our God is indeed an AWESOME GOD!

More Puddles, More Mud

2008-03-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

I guess the Bedok Reservoir Park is now our favourite bike track - perhaps until we manage to find some place with even more mud. :-) Here are the boys showing off the "leopard spots" on the back off their shirts from riding through the many puddles.

In the words of R2, "Papa, when I am riding through the puddles, I forget that I am not on training wheels anymore!". (We just took off his training wheels last week - despite some rather vocal protesting.

Yao Ming in 20 years

2008-03-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

Based on my own intense Internet research (being on leave and not being able to train does these things to ya), Yao Ming (left) better be careful or he will end up looking very much like ol' nitrox (right) in another 20 years or so. :-)

I'm on leave

2008-03-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

It's school holidays this week so I've taken leave to spend more time with the boys. :-)

On the training front, I'm still recovering from the flu and hacking out green stuff, so it's another no training week. :-(

Korah's Rebellion

2008-03-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

Numbers 14-27 (6 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan).

The nice thing about reading through the Bible is that it makes it easier to understand what I am reading through the context of the chapters preceeding. Take Korah, for example, his life story spans from chapters 3 to 26 and it would have been easy to miss the context of his rebellion against Aaron & Moses if I was not reading through the chapters.

Korah was a member of the Kohath clan among the Levites during the time when the Israelites were wandering 40 years in the desert (Numbers 16:1). Korah's clan was 2,750 men strong (Numbers 4:34-35) and their job was to carry (by hand) "the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary.. [and] the screen" (Numbers 3:31) used in the Tabernacle whenever the Israelites moved. Oxen and carts were given to the other Levite clans to help carry the heavier stuff like the tents, screens, pillars and boards, but Korah's clan was assigned to carry the holy articles in the Tabernacle, and they were to be carried on their shoulders (Numbers 7:1-9).

Numbers 4:5-15 tells us that each time when it was time to move, Aaron and the priests would cover the ark and the instruments in cloth and animal skins. Only after that would Korah's clan move in to carry the stuff. All those years of carrying the holy articles in the Tabernacle without being allowed to see or touch them may have gotten to Korah, because one day, he and his buddies (Dathan, Abiram and On) rounded up 250 of the influential leaders of the Israelite community and rebelled against Aaron and Moses (Numbers 16:1-2). It doesn't pay to rebel against God's appointed leaders of course, and the result was that Korah and his friends were swallowed alive by the earth that they were standing on (Numbers 16:31-33), and the 250 leaders were literally incinerated by God's wrath (Numbers 16:35). In fact, Dathan and Abiram's entire families were also swallowed alive because they did not stand apart from their families (i.e. their families stood with them in their rebellion), but Korah's family was spared (Numbers 26:9-11) because they were not standing united with Korah's rebellion.

This entire encounter teaches me two significant things:

We each have our God given ministry and we need to find out what it is and serve. Not all of us will be leaders or pastors, and God certainly doesn't like it when we rebel against the leaders He put above us. This doesn't mean that we should not try to be leaders in our own right, nor does it mean that we are to follow our leaders with blind faith. (In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 warns us to "test all things" we are told/taught.). Instead, we should not take our ministry lightly and think too highly of ourselves, lest we fall into Korah's sin - Korah felt he was literally too good for his ministry and resented the authority of the God appointed leaders over him.
God judges us by our own sins, not the sins of our family (past and present). Some passages in the Old Testament seem to suggest that God punishes the children of sinners to the 3rd or 4th generation (e.g. Exodus 20:5-6), but if we take into context the entire message of the bible, we will find that God does not visit the sins of our fore-fathers upon us. In this case, it is clear that Korah's family was spared even though he committed a terrible sin, and we can find other passages that similarly support the fact that God judges us by our own sins (e.g. Jeremiah 31:29-30). This is significant for me, because coming from a non-Christian family, many Christian friends have advised me to pray against bondages that my fore-fathers may have placed upon me through the generations of idol and ancester worship. I have always found that hard to accept. Somehow it does not fit in with what I know of Him. And now I know why. Praise God!

R1's Chinese Show n Tell

2008-03-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

This is a bit long, so I won't blame you for not watching it to the end. ;-)

My literal translation:

Good morning Teachers & Friends of P2C. Today I am going to tell you the story "Si Ma Kwang Smashes the Pot" (Si Ma Kwang is a famous Chinese scholar/wise man who lived ~ 1019-1086.)

Once, when Si Ma Kwang was a little boy, he and his friends were playing in the garden. There was a large pot in the garden which was filled with water. The children played hide-n-seek, and were having a great time.

Just then, one child decided to find a good hiding spot so that the others cannot find him. He decided to hide in the large pot. He was not as tall as the huge pot, neither did he realise that it was filled with water. As a result, no sooner had he climbed up the pot, that he fell in with a loud "SPLASH".

All the kids panicked and ran around, not knowing what to do. Only Si Ma Kwang remained calm - he picked up a large rock from the ground and threw it at the large pot with all his strength. The rock smashed a large hole in the pot and the water flowed out. The child was saved!

I like this story because Si Ma Kwang is a clever boy. When a problem arises, he is able to remain calm and think of a clever solution to the problem. Thank you for your attention.

[ What follows is some questions and answers, soI will spare you the details. :-) ]

Quick update on training end: No training done since the NUS Biathlon, partly due to work and partly because I picked up the flu bug. I seem to have a pattern of falling sick when I visit India - I think the stress and lack of sleep (4.5 hr over-night flight back) got to me. R2 coughing into my face in his excitment to see me come home probably didn't help either. :-) So it's 1-2 weeks of rest for me then (I am on antibiotics). :-(

Confession: I was Impatient with God...

2008-02-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

Numbers chapters 1 - 13 (6 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan).

I have a confession to make and it is related to Numbers 11. Chapter 11 describes how the Israelites "yielded to intense craving" (Numbers 11:4) in the desert and complained to Moses & God about not having meat to eat, despite being provided with sweet tasting Manna daily. The Lord responded by giving them meat "not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of [their] nostrils and becomes loathsome to [them]." (Numbers 11:19-20). However, God was not impressed with their whinning and impatience, and "while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague." (Numbers 11:33)

This has such a strong parallel to what happened to me yesterday that I cannot call it anything else but a strong wake up call from Him above. For 4 years now, I have been unhappy with my financial situation - in short, I have not been contented with the many blessings the Lord has poured upon me and my family. By all accounts I am blessed with a comfortable life, yet I have been struggling with the worry that I am under-paid, and I have at times "yielded to intense craving" just like the Israelites in the desert. I wanted something (let's call it an "extravagent luxury") that my present finances does not allow. I have been impatient with God, and have been frustrated trying to find the balance between waiting upon Him and taking things into my own hands and finding alternatives. There is of course no such thing as a balance when it comes to waiting on Him. When I am waiting on Him, I am supposed to WAIT. Period. Not make up excuses to "speed things along" nor help God out by running ahead of Him. Yet somehow that is so much easier said than done.

Yesterday morning, I came into some money that was totally unplanned. Not exactly a windfall, but just about enough for me to commit to getting a loan towards the the 1st installment of this "extravagent luxury" I have been wanting. Yet strangely, I just wasn't ready to commit to getting it. I was very happy and thankful for this nice surprise, but there was just no conviction to go shopping. That same afternoon, I heard from Mrs Nitrox that R2 has high fever and threw up. Whatever elation I felt just about disappeared. The rest of the day was a blur, but last night as I was lying in bed, a few thoughts occurred to me:

1. I am guilty of the sin of being impatient with God. Because of that, I came so close to missing out on this nice surprise that He had in store for me. It is only His awesome love and generosity that has brought about this totally undeserved blessing. Like the Israelites in the desert, who were too busy whinning to see His blessings, I am an undeserving recipient of His manna and quail. I am overwhelmed by His love.

2. God also made it pretty clear that despite my sustained whinning, the "extravagent luxury" I wanted wasn't really all that important to me. The reality is that lots of other things more much more important - my family and their well-being being one such example. For some strange reason it is so easy to forget that. I am half convinced that the next time I see a young guy driving a sports car or sitting in business class, I will again forget and start to whine again. Lord, please help me to guard my heart!

3. Maybe I enjoy whinning and complaining about not getting what I want more than the "extravagent luxury" itself. Now that it is within reach, I am basically not ready to take the plunge and get it anyway. What is it about me that thrives when I am curled up in self-pity? How can God Himself see something beautiful enough in something so twisted and wrong that He came to die for me?

My friends, we have an AWESOME, AWESOME God, and we are so priviledged to be loved by Him.

R1's Show and Tell

2008-02-26T01:08:00.000-08:00

Race Report: NUS Biathlon

2008-02-19T07:34:00.000-08:00

Pre-Race (Sat 16 Feb '08)

I am having a nervous week leading to the race tomorrow. Even though I had timed it such that I would have the race at the end of a rest week, I just do not feel like I am recovering well from the previous 3 weeks of training. I did short run and swim intervals this week, but felt slow and lethagic. This will be my first ever biathlon, and my first 1.5km open water swim in race conditions. I am still half serious about sleeping in tomorrow and forgetting about the race. :-)

I decided to use my "Chinese New Year" red New Balance 835 (bought at a warehouse sale for SGD$35/USD$20) as my race shoes because they are lighter than my regular MR846 training shoes so I switched the Lock Laces over. Somehow, switching over the laces had a calming effect as it made tomorrow's race finally REAL somehow.

Let's hope I feel MUCH better tomorrow morning when I wake up.

Race Day (Sun 18 Feb '08)

Didn't sleep too well the night before - too much nervous energy - oh well. I don't believe in omens, but perhaps I should have guessed that the swim won't go too well when I saw the swimming caps being handed out. Yes, that is what you think it is - a swimming sperm!?!? I tried to encourage my buddies by reminding them that we were all made by the fastest swimming sperm at some point, so DEEP down inside us there must be a fast swimmer. :-))

Well, the swimmer DEEP inside me didn't quite surface - the swim was downright awful for me. There was a deceptively strong current going from right to left, and the swim lap was an inverted U - we swim 250m out, turn right for 250m and then swim 250m back (2 loops to make 1.5km). On the swim out, I got kicked a few times and decided to head for clear water. Problem was, the current brought me about 50m out to the left. Then I turned right at the buoy and pretty much came to a standstill because I was now swimming against the current. Sounds funny now, but it was pretty demoralizing to swim 8 strokes or so, sight, and find myself at pretty much the same position as before. When I finally get to turn back to shore, the current was literally pushing me against the ropes and I couldn't really swim proper strokes, but at least I was finally moving again. It took me 26 mins to swim 750m, that's 10 mins more than in my last Sprint Tri. When I had to run back and do the 2nd swim loop, there was STRONG temptation to just give up on the swim. There wasn't even a timing mat to record the number of swim laps completed! Somehow, I found the fortitude to continue and jump back in, despite noticing that I was literally one of the last swimmers still heading back in for swim loop 2.

The 2nd lap was pretty much a repeat of the 1st lap and I finished the swim in an embarassing 50:56, but at least I finished, and it looks like I even did a negative split (since the swim times included the swim-run transition). Out I go for the run then, which was pretty uneventful, except that again I got stitches on the run, which made breathing difficult and speeding up just about impossible. I don't know why I get stitches in races but never in training - can anyone help? One of my buddies say it is probably because I am too tensed up in races, gotta learn to relax a bit more. After the disastrous swim, I somehow managed a sub-60min 10km (59:23) - ok, not by much, but sub-60min it is, and a PR it is. Someone I met started telling me that the run course was probably short, but I just DID NOT want to hear that. :-)

So total time was a disastrous 1:50:19 for a 1.5km swim and 10km run, and race results confirm that I am in the last 10% of the Men's Open. (So my fears about coming in last in a race organised by the local university - where most of the participants & organisers are half my age - came true.) I sure hope this sets the baseline for improvement towards the international triathlon I am planning to do in June/July.

Loving Instructions

2008-02-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Leviticus 19-27 (4 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan). I am still more than 2 weeks behind. :-(

As I read through the chapters of Leviticus, what speaks to me most is love of a God who wants to dwell with us, and to teach us about the gravity of sin.

Last evening, R2 wanted to go to the playground (R1 was still having his dinner), so I went with him. The kids played catching and I chatted with a neighbour. Before I knew it, R2 has bounded after another boy and ran across the street. Thankfully it wasn't a busy street, but I was not amused. I had to take him home and discipline him - despite his protests that he was just following the other boys, we did not tell him not to run across THAT PARTICULAR street, and then claiming that he forgot, etc... (Just look at the innocent look on his face.) I didn't like doing it, but I had to do it, because I had to make sure that he fully understood the gravity of his misdeed. I had to be very strict with him despite his excuses because I wanted him to be consistent in how he acts going forword - i.e. never run across ANY street again.

In a way, this little incident sums up the book of Leviticus rather well. God loves us, wants to be with us, and wants the best for us (just like I love R2, want to bring him to the playground, and I want him to play safe and play nicely with the other kids). God knows that the land of Canaan is a dangerous place for the Israelites if they fall into the same detestable practices of the land - which included child sacrifice and prostitution. Hence He wants them to be set apart from the rest of the people and obey His instructions (just like me wanting R2 to obey my instructions not to run across the street, whether or not the other kids do so).

I now see the meticulous (and sometimes repetitive) instructions in the book of Leviticus as the painstaking effort that God made to explain and drill home the gravity of sin and how to avoid it, and when that fails, how to atone for it. I cannot love R2 and allow him to run across the street at this age, whatever others do, and God cannot love us without telling us, in His infinite wisdom, what is not good for us.

Praise God!

Sin is SERIOUS STUFF!

2008-02-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

Leviticus chapters 1 - 18 (6 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan).

I used to find these chapters really dry - a whole lot of stuff about ceremonies and rules that do not seem too relevant to life today. Praise God that the more times I read these chapters, the more of His nature speaks to me. I am gradually understanding how the Old Testament form of atonement & worship is actually very relevant to the entire message of the Bible.

Perhaps above all else, is the very clear message that (1) sin is serious stuff that God abhores and (2) despite how much God hates sin, He still wants to dwell with us and have a relationship with us, hence the very elaborate atonement and worship processes laid out in Leviticus.

There is certainly a very clear message that atonement (for sin) can only be made by spilling blood - I guess this re-enforces the truth that sin brings death, and since blood is the "life of the flesh", blood must be spilled to atone for sin - Leviticus 17:11.

Worship in the Old Testament days was a serious affair, the person who presents the sacrifice has to put his hand on the head of the animal (vivid reminder that the animal is dying in his place), and even kill and skin the animal himself (Leviticus 3 seems to suggest that even though only the priest can minister before God by offering/burning the sacrifice, the requirement is that the animal is killed and skinned by the person who brings it). Even in those days without nicely packed meat in supermarkets, that must have been quite a graphic reminder of the seriousness of sin and the heavy price needed to atone for it so Man can approach God.

This culminated in God coming in the form of Jesus and spilling His own blood as atonement for all our sins - past, present and future - the ultimate and final sacrifice in accordance to His own requirements. It is the perfect way for God to extend His love and grace to us, and yet not compromise His perfect and holy nature.

Chinese New Year Goodies

2008-02-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

One of my favourate things about Chinese New Year is the high energy breakfast that we wake up to.

At the top pf the picture (the square and rectangle pieces) are what we call the "Nian Gau" - literally the "Sticky Cake". It's main ingredients are sugar and glutinous rice flour so it is probably the original high carbo energy bar. :-) We usually eat it steamed or deep fried with a light coating of flour (as above - my favourite). The Nian Gau is popular not just because of it's taste and texture. "Nian" (Sticky) in Chinese sounds like the word for "Year", and "Gau" sounds similar to the word for "High" or "Rise". So eating Nian Gau also carries with it the connotation to rise ("Gau") in one's position (social/work) yearly ("Nian").

The bowl at the centre is a sweet soup made with all sorts of goodies like brown sugar, dates, dried longans, lotus nuts, white fungus, etc... Perhaps the original high carbo drink then. :-)

At the bottom of the picture (in the plate), is what we call the Fa Gau (or "Huat Kway" in Hokkien - my dialect group). This is made primarily with brown sugar and flour (coconut milk is optional), and I love it smothered with peanut butter for a high energy recovery breakfast.

Chinese New Year is also a time when we see a lot of traditional chinese decorations like these dragons that R1 and R2 made in Art Class. Perhaps the dragon dance was invented out of all that energy food that's consumed around this season. :-)

Blessed Chinese New Year

2008-02-06T04:34:00.000-08:00

R1 and R2 decided to made their own dragon and bring in the Chinese New Year with a traditional dragon dance. :-)

Have a Blessed Chinese New Year!

Set Apart

2008-02-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

Exodus chapters 25 - 40 (6 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan). Yikes, has it really been a week since I last posted?!?! Work has been crazy - some unforseen complications has had me stressing out and working late. AND... The NUS Biathlon is in only 2 weeks! This is when I usually go through the "maybe I shouldn't do this" kinda thoughts, but it'll pass. :-)

So these 16 chapters are primarily about the Tabernacle - God's very detailed instructions about how to build and sanctify it, and the people's detailed obedience to build and sanctify it. I have always found it hard to visualise the Tabernacle and this time I decided to jump on the 'Net and goggle it. :-) Praise God for websites like http://www.the-tabernacle-place.com/ - I would encourage you to check it out if you have also had difficulty visualising the very detailed instructions on the Tabernacle and it's many furnishings.

As I read these chapters, the one thing that kept speaking to me was how the entire Tabernable and furnishings were set apart for God and God alone. Each and every instrument/furnishing served a special purpose and they were only to be used for worshipping God. Even the incense and annointing oil were specially prepared, and are only to be used for worship. We are now God's Tabernacle on earth - His dwelling place on earth (1 Corinthians 6:19), and in a similar way, we are to be set apart for God. It doesn't mean that we are to be so "holy" as to live apart from society (God does not call us to be hermits - not all of us anyway), but it means that even as we live and function in this world, we need to be conscious that we live, breathe, think and act for Him. A preacher once said that it is impossible to be so holy that we are of no earthly use. Reason being that if we are indeed holy (i.e. set apart for God), we would set apart our hearts for Him, and God's heart is with his people. We cannot be set apart for God if we do not share His love for His creations.

My prayer is that God will protect us and minister to us even as we are set apart for Him in this fallen world. Because we are different from the world, and we can only find peace and joy in our purpose - which is to be set apart for worshipping Him. Amen!

Daily Bread

2008-01-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Exodus 16-24 (3 Days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/).

What speaks to me most in these chapters is the miracle of Manna that God provided for the Israelites in the desert.

Manna was provided just enough for the day - Each day everyone would go out and gather, but somehow everyone would have just enough (Exodus 16:16-18).
God provided Manna for each day, it would not keep to the next day, so the Israelites had to go out and collect it fresh each day. (Except for the day before Sabbath, where twice the amount will be provided and the Manna will keep to the next day.)
In His abundance, God provided both meat (quail) and manna - a balanced diet of proteins and carbohydrates. :-)
In his gracious love, God provided Manna that is tasty - "...it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." (Exodus 16:31).

The daily provision of Manna reminds me of how Jesus taught us to pray "Give us each day our daily bread." (Luke 11:3). It is important to God that we depend on Him daily, yet His provision is more than enough for us. Just like with Manna, He knows what we need and provides for us beyond even what we ask (like with provision of quail), and His provisions delight us (just like the wafers of honey).

This daily provision builds what is most important in God's eyes - a relationship with us. In today's context, this probably speaks of the importance of daily Quiet Time with God - we need to feed upon His Word daily and interact with Him (thru prayer) on a daily basis. I'll be the first to confess that I am still not consistently doing this on a daily basis, and I can see the consequence of not doing so. When I wonder too far from Him, I start to make decisions based on my own will and "cleverness", which tend not to be very wise decisions.

Swimming with Sharks

2008-01-26T02:13:00.001-08:00

So I went for my swim test for the NUS Biathlon today, and as expected, everyone (and I mean everyone, including the organisers) is half my age. I usually don't mind being called "sir", but I detected a bit too much of the customary Asian respect for the elderly in the "sir"s after I told them I am 40.

Undaunted, I proceed for the swim test and started chatting with the swimmer who starts after me. A young, well-muscled and tanned chap, he confessed to being a slow swimmer. After more deferential chatter (these kids must not meet middle aged guys very often), Ol' Nitrox was eager to just get going. I mean, I am a big advocate of respecting the old, but I have never been this much on the receiving end before.

1st lap and I noticed that Tanned Young Boy (TYB) who started after me is using the breast stroke - heh heh, I thought, no pressure then. A few laps later, TYB seemed to be catching up (still using breast stroke). Forgeting the ravaging effects of 20 extra years on the body, I pick up the pace, refusing to lose time to someone using the breast stroke. Mid-way and this ol' body is over-heating, I am having difficulty breathing and keeping my heart rate in check. I cannot even think about a smooth stroke anymore. BUT, I am not giving up any time to TYB. I can't really remember much after the mid-point, just a lot of discomfort and threshing around. TYB and I finished the swim test at about the same time (36 mins or so - YES, I passed!), but I could not help notice how he was breathing a whole lot easier than I was as we walked to the changing rooms.

Man, this could be one tough biathlon... Maybe I should go talk to these guys about creating a seniors category...

One Door Closed But Another Door Opened...

2008-01-25T05:51:00.000-08:00

Remember how I was kicking myself for missing the Singapore Biathlon? Well, sometimes when one door is closed, God opens up another - the NUS Biathlon. Praise God! He is such a kewl God. Best part is that it is pretty much the same course (just about all the biathlons/triathlons in Singapore are held at the same venue), and the same distance - 1.5km swim, 10km run.

This biathlon is organised by the National University of Singapore, which means I will be racing with young and lithe (read: fast) men/women, but I am thrilled just to be able to do a biathlon as a build-up to the International (Olympic) Distance triathlon in June. Someone's gotta come last anyway! I have not swam 1.5km in the open sea under race conditions before, so this will be a good experience to have before going to the Triathlon.

I will have to take a swim test tomorrow (30 X 50m in 40mins), and though I am reasonably comfortable of passing, you'll never know with these things, so your prayer support is much appreciated. :-)

Oh, and that's one of R1's painting from art class by the way. Pretty good huh? :-)

Here I am Lord, send him me.

2008-01-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Exodus chapters 1 -15, a full 5 days of my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan. :-) A quick caveat though: the site seems to have missed sending out some emails in the last few weeks, but the website hosts the (personalised) reading plan in HTML format, so with a bit of inconvenience, it is still very much possible to stay on track.

Wow, so much speaks to me, but the experience of Moses at the burning bush speaks to me the most.

Remember that Moses, in his younger days, was so eager to defend his people that he killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12). Yet, when God called him to be the leader to release his people from bondage, he had just about every excuse for God to send someone else:

First he said: ""Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"" (Exodus 3:11). To which God said (and I paraphrase) "No worries, I will give you a sign." Only problem was that the sign is that Moses will lead all the Israelites to Mt Horeb (where the burning bush was) to worship God after he has led them out of Egypt! That's like me asking "Am I really qualified to teach at Sunday School?" and God answering "I will give you a sign: When you have taught Sunday School for a year, you will find that it is very rewarding." God has a sense of humour. :-)
Then Moses wanted to know who is sending him (in case the Israelites ask him). And God simply said "I am" (Exodus 3:14). There was no need to explain who He is, because God is the same God that Moses, the Israelites and their ancestors already knew. God is essentially saying "I am God, and that's good enough for you".
Then Moses asked "What if they don't listen to me?". And God gaves him the ability to perform signs and wonders - staff turning to snake, healing, and turning water to blood (Exodus 4:1-9). God equips us for the work He has set out for us, be it the ability to perform signs and wonders, or the ability to teach, for example.
Even with the ability to perform signs and wonders, Moses argued that he is not eloquent, to which God assured him that it will be Him that is doing the talking, not him.
Finally Moses came to the crux of what really mattered to him. He said "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." (Exodus 4:13). Essentially he is saying "Here I am Lord, but please send him (anyone else but me). This was the point at point God was angered, and He chose Aaron to be Moses' mouth piece (Exodus 4:14).

It strikes me that Moses' reaction is very much like our human nature (I confess that I do behave like that sometimes). When we want to do something in our agenda (in our way), we will run ahead and just do it (compare this to Moses killing the Egyptian because he saw the Israelites being oppressed and wanted to do something about it). But when God takes our ambition to the next level and wants us to adopt His agenda (like God asking Moses to lead His people our of Egypt), we suddenly lose the passion we once had, simply because God is not telling us to do thing our way, instead He wants us to do things His way. When we do things our way (again compare to Moses killing the Egyptian), we tend to think small, and are content with dubious small victories (that often times could even do more harm than good). But when God wants us to do things His way, He is giving us the priviledge to be his instrument to do something BIG (like Moses releasing ALL the Isralites from slavery).

Thus, my prayer today is that we will have the wisdom and discernment to consistently hear God in our daily lives, and when He calls us (and He will), we will say "Here I am Lord, send ~~him~~ me!".

Kicking Myself...

2008-01-20T02:09:00.001-08:00

Yes, today I am kicking myself, because I am going to miss the Singapore Biathlon (1.5km swim, 10 km run, 1st March '08) - the registration closed early due to overwhelming response. It would have been such a good work-up to the OSIM International Triathlon too. It wouldn't be hard to cover the distances in one of my weekend training sessions, but I was looking forward to race conditions and especially the open water swim. :-(

While we are on the subject of Triathlons, I have been dreaming of exotic carbon gear since reading about InterBike 2008 in some magazines. Have you seen this super sexy Cobra Drop Bar from Profile Design? Not the lightest carbon drop bar out there, but check out the multiple contoured grips! The best part is that the center clamping section (110mm) has been strengthened to take clip-on aero bars and hence suitable for triathlon use. I wonder if the aerobar with the same name sake (T2+ Cobra) would be the perfect match... The website says that the Cobra Drop Bar will take any clip-on aero bar, but that I am imagining that this particular combination will sure look slick. :-)

Talking about carbon stuff, Mavic have finally made their own all carbon wheels - the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate. Yes, quite a mouthful and even more expensive than ZIPP 404's. GASP!

So as you can see, Ol' Nitrox is very capable of the sin of covetousness. :-) I think I will put up this post just to have a convenient place to oogle at the pictures when I have a few spare minutes. :-))

Back to ground zero, and the Polar service centre has finally called me back to say that my S625X footpod is busted. It costs SGD$180 (USD$126) to replace, so I have decided that I don't really need to know just how slow I am running. :-) I have a few regular running routes and I can guess at the distances so that's probably good enough for a recreational triathlete like me.

Oh, and I have NOT tried the PowerBREATHE either. I have a sneaky feeling that unless I do so soon, this will be another purchase that gets forgotten in the "good intentions" closet. Let's see...

Taking the High Road...

2008-01-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I like the picture of R1 & R2 jumping so much that I will use it as a header. :-) The picture somehow lifts my spirit and reminds me to JUMP UP for the Lord because He has given us the freedom to take hold of His unspeakable joy and unshakable peace.

As I go through Genesis 43-50 (another 3 days in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan), Joseph's act of grace to forgive his brothers - even though they sold him to slave traders and lied to their father that he was dead - reminds me that it is only God's grace that gives us the ability to take the high road in life. Ol' Nitrox is just like any office worker out there - in my daily work, I meet people who are out to satisfy their personal agenda, whatever the cost to others (and even to the company). These people really make my blood boil, and many times I catch myself reacting in spite when I should really be taking the high road. It is only when I calm down and remember that

I work for God and not for men (Colossians 3:23), and
He who is in me is greater than he who is in this world (1 John 4:4)

That's when I can stop worrying about what others around me may think about me, and have the ability to take the high road and do the right thing.

There is a very real price to being a Christian at work today. God came to this world to teach us and finally to die for us so that we can catch a glismpe of the kingdom of heaven, so that having the assurance of victory and eternal life, we may be freed from the fears and concerns of this world, so that we can pay the price of being a Christian.

As I write this, a very dear friend of mine in church may well have paid the high price of being a Christian at work. She was chosen for retrenchment after 10 years on the job, and I suspect the choice has more than a little to do with her being the odd one out who does not compromise her Christian values at work. Singapore labour law does NOT require employers to provide any sort of severance pay even for retrenchment, so she is in the midst of a difficult test right now. P, if you are reading this, our prayers are with you, and I praise God that even in such tough times, we can have the certainty that He is in control. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Have faith dear sister, have faith. Be proud that you have taken the high road, and continue to take the high road. It is the only path God has set out for us. Be secure in the knowledge that your steps have stayed on His path, you have not wavered from following Him (Psalm 17:5, NLT) and so like David, you will see Him and be satisfied (Psalm 17:15, NLT). He will be your vindication. He will restore to you what is rightfully yours - your unshakable peace and unshakable joy. Amen!

JUMP!

2008-01-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Somehow this picture never fails to give me a bit more zest in whatever I am doing. :-) Zest that I badly need in my bible reading plan to catch up with the days I have missed so far. Zest that seems to be missing in the morning when I wake up and head to work nowadays (but more on that later).

Since my last post, I read 10 chapters (Genesis 32-42), which is 4 days in in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ daily reading plan. As always, so much speaks to me in these chapters, but I will focus on what's top most on my mind as I recall the readings. Ol' Nitrox did not grow up in a Christian family, so it is only a few years ago that I started praying that God will make me like Joseph, David and Daniel - men who were blessed with spiritual and material success. As I read these chapters again, the question in my mind is if I can truly be like Joseph?

Joseph went through tremendous ups and downs in his life. Starting as a favourite son, to being sold as a slave, to being the head of Potiphar's household, to being falsely accused and sent to jail, to rising up to be the leader among prisoners, to seeing his chance of getting out of jail dashed (when the chief butler forgot about his promise to bring Joseph's case before Pharaoh), to being rasied to the second man to Pharoah in all of Egypt, to being a blessing to Egypt and all the nations around when there was a famine. Talk about ups and downs! Ol' Nitrox is going thru a small "trough" at work - re-organisation changes are threatening cut my job back to it's scope 4 years ago when I started in the current company. This has been a particularly painful pill to swallow since we have grown the business more than 4 times in the 4 years. But as I look upon the circumstances at work now, the "trough" pales in comparision to any one of the "downs" that Joseph had to go through.

Lord, you have made me to love you with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). So give me the strength to JUMP back from whatever troughs/downs that life brings my way!

I beg your pardon...

2008-01-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

... I never promised you a rose garden,

along with the sunshine,
there's gotta be a little rain sometime..."

So goes the song from Lynn Anderson (I love how tall her hair is - they can write both her name AND the song title on it). :-) The slightly younger generation would perhaps associate these lyrics with the song from Kon Kan).

As I read Genesis 25-31 (Days 20-22 in my http://www.bibleinayear.org/ daily reading plan), it strikes me that God's plan for us is often like the words in the song - He never promised us a rose garden either. Remember how God has promised Abraham to give the entire land of Canaan to his desecndants and that they will be as numerous as sand? Well, it was another 25 years of waiting/hoping/praying before Abraham and Sarah finally had Isaac. And what happens when it was Isaac and Rebekah's turn to continue the family line that is supposed to outnumber the sand on the beach? Rebekah was barren and was only able to conceive after Isaac "pleaded with the LORD for his wife" (Genesis 25:21).

Sometimes, we seem to think that because God has given us a vision/conviction or called us to a ministry, that everything should be smooth flowing. Afterall, we are doing His will, right? I mean, when God promised Abraham that he will be the father of nations and his descendants will outnumber the sand on the beach, the last thing I expected was for him and his only son (Isaac) to have difficulties having children of their own. I gotta remember that sometimes, God values the process more than the outcome.

This is perhaps a large part of the miracle of God's process of salvation - the outcome is already decided and known, what's in it for us is the opportunity to learn and to grow into Christian maturity as much as we can, while we are still here on earth. That window of opportunity closes when we die or when Christ returns (whichever is sooner). Sobering thought, isn't it?

Tri Gear Update: Shoes, Tri Shorts, Foot Pod, POWERbreathe!

2008-01-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Yup, got myself some value-priced gear from New Balance again. This time a pair of MR846 which are their stability/cushioning trainers weighing 374 g/13.1 oz. Was very tempted by the MR902 (292 g/10.2 oz lightweight, mild stability control), which are lighter, but decided to go for the more "heavy-duty" choice because I tend to have a heel strike and pronation in my running gait. Thanks to the Triathlon Association of Singapore, I get a 30% discount so the MR846 cost SGD$122.5 (USD$85.75), which is a pretty decent price for a solid pair of running shoes. I have run with these new shoes twice now (12-15km each run), and they feel more cushioned than the M767 that I used to wear. They also seem to breathe better than the M767, but that could be just my over-enthusiasm with new shoes. :-) Although there is a 35 g/1.2 oz weight penelty to the M767, as expected, it is not noticeable - if anything, the new shoes felt lighter somehow on the run (again, this is probably my over-enthusiasm again).
[Please note that the manufacturer posted weights above are based on the "standard" size 9.5 shoes, which are considerably smaller than my 11.5 shoe size.]

As you can see (if you peer hard enough), I also decided to try a pair of Lock Laces. These cost SGD$13.90 (USD$9.73) which are kinda expensive for laces in my books, but every second saved in T2 is one less second to run down, right? :-) So how do they feel on the run? I did not follow the instructions on the Lock Laces website, so I endup up with a rather loose fit which I did not like. Will try the secure method on the Lock Laces site next time. I intend to just get used to the Lock Laces and then move them onto my race shoes - which, if all goes according to plan, will be a New Balance competition shoe or MR902 at the stock clearance discount price of SGD$35 (USD$24.5) - being a size 11.5 in Asia means that there is usualy my size in stock clearance sales at the New Balance center near my workplace. :-)

While I was at the shop, I also got a pair of these value priced (SGD$34.3 or USD$24 after 30% discount) New Balance Tri Shorts that seem to be only for the Asian market. These are the most cost-effective (read: cheapest) Tri shorts on the market and they work pretty well for International (Olympic) distance or shorter. The padding is literally towel-thin, so I would not recommend cycling for more than 50km or so on them (unless you have a fantastic Tri saddle).

On a negative note, my 2 year and 8 month old Polar foot pod (for the S625X) is broken. Instead of blinking, the green LED stays on when it is activated, and the red button needs to be pressed again before it will start to flash. Once it is turned on, there is no way to switch it off except to remove the battery. It also keeps telling me that I am running 5-6km/hr when my pace is closer to 9-10km/hr. It's now with the Polar Service Center and I am waiting to hear what's the damage (warranty lasped 8 months ago).

One last bit of new kit, and I have indeed saved the best for last: the POWERbreathe! This seems to be the latest "miracle product" amongst endurance atheletes and I had the chance to get one at 30% "buddy discount" - SGD$70 (USD$49). I have yet to try it, but this is what the website says:

'Dumb-bells for your diaphragm' - Just as you might use weights to strengthen your arm muscles, breathing in through POWERbreathe for a few minutes twice daily, makes your inspiratory muscles work harder - thereby increasing their strength and endurance.

It is an easy-to-use, drug-free, hand-held device with a comfortable mouthpiece. Within a few days your inspiratory muscles will feel stronger and within four weeks your lung function, and ultimately performance, will improve.

Too good to be true? I will tell you in about 4 weeks. :-)

Rising above the level of kids...

2008-01-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent family picture from Mrs Nitrox's brother's wedding. It's not often that we, as a family, are so well dressed, so it's good that someone took a picture for us. :-)

I am at Genesis 19-24 in my bible reading plan. I am so far behind schedule that it is not even funny anymore. These are "loaded" chapters - they start from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, through to how Abraham and Sarah was finally blessed with Isaac and was tested by God (who asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him). It is impossible to include all the things that spoke to me in these chapters, but strangely, what spoke to me most was Genesis 21:9 "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing." (KIV).

OK, a bit of context here perhaps: Abraham (and Sarah) finally had their own son (Isaac) when Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 21:5) - well past their child bearing age. This was also a full 25 years since God first promised the land to Abraham's descendants (Genesis 12:1-4). So to say that Isaac was a REALLY precious child in Abraham & Sarah's eyes would not be an over-statement. When Isaac was weaned, the proud parents had a big party for the baby, and Sarah saw Ishmael (Abraham's son thru the maid Hagar) "scoffing". It apparently so drove her up the wall that she had Abraham drive Hagar and Ishmael out from their home and into the surrounding desert. An event that almost cost Hagar and Ishmael their lives.

So here is the confession time for me. I am also guilty of being driven up the wall sometimes when I see other (older) kids bullying or scoffing at R1/R2. I can't understand how I can get so angry with, esssentially, kids! I have felt that way since R1/R2 were toddlers venturing to the playground. When R1/R2 were younger I have actually told off some kids, even in front of their parents. In the last few weeks, with all my nephews and nieces here in Singapore (4 of them staying with us), I have been cheesed off more than once with some of their rather mild teasing/bullying of R1/R2 (who are the 2 youngest cousins). Even little things like excluding R1/R2 in their games, fighting with R1/R2 for snacks/computer time/attention really ilks me. The logical part of me says "Let them be kids", but something in me just flares up to see my precious R1/R2 being "sidelined". I tend to be a very "hands on" Dad, and sometimes it is hard to do that and still remind myself to stay above the level of kids. I have to consciously remind myself that I am being silly, and make an effort to be the dear ol' Uncle Nitrox to my nephews & nieces. Silly isn't it? I mean my nephews and nieces are such wonderful kids - the problem lies very much with me. Yes, I am embarassed.

Praise God that He has opened my eyes to another area in my life that I have to give up to Him. I have to remember that God comes first. And that means that I have to put my ministry to my extended family (bro/sis-in-laws and nephews) and my friends/neighbours above these minor irritations, and trust that God is partnering Mrs Nitrox and I in parenting and protecting R1/R2. It sure is hard, but with His grace, all things are possible, and I can only get better at it. Praise God!

Initiative or Obedience

2007-12-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

With the "double whammy" of school starting and their cousins returning to USA/Australia, I hope it wouldn't be too much of a culture shock for R1 & R2. We got them to do some homework today to try to get their minds off the last few weeks of fun and games. On my end, it also means getting back to the daily rhythm of work, family, QT (Quiet Time with the Lord) and training - with work and family to juggle, there is simply no room for procastination when it comes to QT and triathlon training. I either jump into it, or the day just flies away somehow.

So let's jump straight into Genesis chapters 12-18 (which is 2 days in my chronological bible reading plan from http://www.bibleinayear.org/). This is a very interesting passage about how God called Abram to be Abraham (i.e. "father of many", Genesis 17:5) , and how the ancestors of the Jews and the Arabic nations (i.e. Isaac and Ishmael respectively) came about. As I read these chapters, I am reminded of the very real issue of balancing initiative versus obedience - i.e. just where is the balance between using our initiative (i.e using the faculties of our minds that the Lord blessed us with) and waiting/obeying upon Him.

There are at least 3 examples in these chapters that speak of the danger of "running before the Lord":

Chapter 12 - Abraham (then Abram) travelled to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan. God told Abram to go to Canaan, and to his credit he went. But when there was a famine in the land, verse 10 seems to suggest that Abraham took the initiative to go to Egypt - there is no record of God telling Abraham to go there. Abraham even went as far as to tell his wife to pretend to be his sister, so that the Egyptians would not kill him to take her away from him. This sounds very much to me like a hare-brained idea that progressively got worst as Abraham veered away from God's will for him to travel to and live in Canaan. In this case, God protected Abraham and blessed him despite his mis-steps, but it must have been a stressful time for Abraham, Sarah and even the Egyptians (who were struck with plague thanks to Abraham's lies).
Chapter 13 - Lot chooses to stay near Sodom. There soon came a time when Abraham and Lot's possessions got so big that they could not stay together. Abraham asked Lot (his nephew) to pick where he wanted to live, and Lot "lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere" (Genesis 13:10). He used his initiative and choose the best land for his flocks, and pitched his tent near Sodom, even though "the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD" (Genesis 13:13). Well, we all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot lost everything when God destroyed that area.
Chapter 16 - Sarah (then Sarai), Abraham's wife, asked him to sleep with her maid (Hagar) so that they may have an heir. God had promised Abraham that He would give the land to Abraham's descendants (Genesis 12:7), but 10 years later, Abraham and Sarah was still childless. I can appreciate that in their eagerness to see God's promise fulfilled, they decided to take their own intiative and have an heir through Hagar the maid. Seems the logical thing to do right? God has promised to bless their descendants, but they were still unable to conceive and getting past child-bearing age, so maybe God wants them to conceive through other means? They didn't exactly have IVF then, so they decided to do the next best thing, which apparently was not as much a taboo then as it is now. Turns out this was not quite how God wanted to create the Israelite nation, so instead Abramham fathered Ishmael, the ancestor of the Abrabic nations - the very same nations that are in so much conflict with the nation of Israel (offspring of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah's son) even until today.

This is something that I struggle with just about constantly. When do I take initiative and when do I be still and wait upon Him? E.g. do I apply for other roles/jobs, so do I wait upon Him? I have heard of many testimonials of a good job or promotion landing on the laps of Christians. Am I running ahead of Him by trying to get back into the job market? On the other hand, God has given us our minds and expect us to renew our minds as part of His miracle of Savation. So surely He would want us to use our minds rather than to always just sit and wait?

Perhaps what I need to do is to (1) always check my intentions (i.e. why am I even looking around for another role/job to begin with? Is this for selfish reasons or is this in line with His purpose for me at work?), and (2) remember that He is always in charge (despite our occasional follies). "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21, NIV)

PRAISE GOD!

Job (Part IV)

2007-12-31T07:55:00.000-08:00

Yup, I have finally gotten through the last 4 chapters of Job (chapters 38-42), which represents 2 days of daily reading. I am still way behind my daily reading and will be doing some mugging to try to catch up.

But before that, a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. Here's wishing you a blessed 2008, a year of discovery, growth and blessings! In the Kewl Nitrox clan, the Christmas holidays are over and Mrs Nitrox's sisters are heading home. This morning we just sent off SBIL4 (sister and brother-in-law number 4) and their 2 boys - T1 and T2. We still have SBIL2 and their 2 girls staying with us, but already we are starting to feel the emptiness after the extended family gathering. R1 and R2 are going to miss their cousins so much when SBIL2 and their 2 girls leave on Thurs morning, the house will be empty without the 6 kids that have been so much a part of our lives for the last week.

Back to Job then, and God finally speaks. He did not really answer Job's questions, at least not in the manner that we would expect. As I read what God says to Job, it strikes me that it does not seem to be anything that Job does not already know - in short, God reminds Job that He is the sovereign God. Yet Job replies "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6) I am not sure if Job actually saw God physically (the book of Job is not very clear on whether God just spoke, or did He appear physically as well). But I think that when Job says that he sees God now and repents, it may be more that the eyes of his heart and mind are now open to who God is.

Tenuous as it is, I would still ask of your kind indulgence for me to elaborate. Often we know something in our mind, but we do not know it in our heart. Example, if the doctor says you've got a terminal illness, and the only way to survive is to take a pill every day, chances are that we would remember to take the pill every single day. This is an example where both our mind and our heart knows that we need the pill. By the same token, we may also know that reading the Bible is an important part of the process of renewing our mind, which is (1) how we put off the old self and put on the new as part of the process (and miracle) of Salvation (Ephesians 4:22-24), and (2) what we need to do to understand and benefit from God's perfect will for us (Romans 12:2). Yet it seems so easy to forget to read His Word sometimes, doesn't it? That, to me, is an example where our minds may know the benefit and necessity of reading the bible, but our heart does not.

Perhaps the only way for us to walk closer to God and to reflect His love and His will in our lives is to know Him. I mean to REALLY know Him. Nothing opens my eyes more to my own brokeness than the moments when God shows me a little more more of who He is. Unlike Job, we have the benefit of the full gospel - the Old and the New Testament. My prayer is that we (including myself) will make full use of His Word that has already been given to get to know Him. To REALLY know Him.

And while we are on the subject of His written Word, annette and her hubby is also joining the daily reading plan at http://www.bibleinayear.org/. I am humbled. I am truly humbled.

Job (Part III)

2007-12-25T01:01:00.000-08:00

But before that... A belated Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year in advance! This Christmas, I have 6 kids in my home for a week. Yup, ST's sisters are in town and have wisely decided to deposit the kids with us. This is making training & blogging pretty much impossible, but I should not be complaining about having family over during the Christmas holidays. I have to admit that having 6 kids (between 5 to 12) in the house continues to test my patience and energy, but I am sure that the minute they leave for their homes in the USA/Australia, I will miss them real bad.

And now onto more observations about Job. Since my last post, I have read Job chapters 24 - 37, which is 4 days in the http://www.bibleinayear.org/ reading plan. It is interesting to note that even in his complaints, Job was wise beyond his time.

Starting with what perhaps could be trivial, Job understood some pretty profound scientic truths - e.g. earth is suspended in space (most of the rest of the civilized world then still thought that the earth rests on the back of a giant turtle) (Job 26:7), rain comes from water vapour (Job 36:27-28), etc...
Job longed for and anticipated one who can mediate between man and God (Job 9:32-35). Interestingly Elihu, the youngest and last of the speakers (Job 33:23-25) also alluded to the same messenger/mediator, before he fell back to the general "pattern" of Job's other 2 friends (which is that Job must have done something wrong to deserve his troubles, because God does not allow bad things to happen to good people). This mediator anticipated by Job finally came in the form of Jesus (God Himself) on Christmas Day.
Job longed for and anticipated seeing God at the end of his time (Job 19:25-27). Without having the promise of eternal life (that came only with Jesus much later in time), Job trusted God enough to know somehow that God will be fair to him, and will not allow him to just disappear with death. He certainly had doubts - the entire book is filled with his doubts and fears about dying without any notion of fairness from God - but HE NEVER GAVE UP.
Which brings me to what to me is the most moving observation about Job - He had the maturity to accept that sometimes bad people prosper while the righteous suffer, and he had the tenacity to argue with God when bad things happened to him despite being blameless before God. We live in a world where sometimes it is hard to understand why crooks amass their wealth and the rightoeous suffer at theirs hands, and this is a problem that his friends seem to overlook (Job 21:28-34). Job's friends seem overly eager to interpret Job's complaints to God as being illegitimate and ill-founded. In their zealousness, they even proclaimed that God Himself was prompting them to speak and defend His name. What's amazing about Job is that (1) he had the maturity of faith to understand that he need not jump to God's rescue when there are open issues (Job 27:5); and that (2) he had the tenacity to stubbornly pursue God for an answer even though he was undergoing all his sufferings without knowing why. How many of us give up on God when we hit issues that cannot be explained away? The book of Job tells us that if we, like Job, stubbornly pursue God for answers, He will answer us. It may not be the answer that we were expecting (just like with Job), but He will answer one way or another.

While we are on the subject of Job, http://tryathlete.blogspot.com/ has a different (and rather profound) intepretation which he expresses beautifully. You may want to check it out here.

OSIM Corporate Triathlon - 3rd Nov 2007

2007-12-23T23:52:00.000-08:00

Just got this in the mail - yup it's my official race cert from my last race this year. Two things of significance on this race cert: (1) I am officially a veteran now (past 40), and (2) I may be one of the youngest in my new age group, but it did not make me any faster (48th out of 92 veterans). ;-)

What's kewl is that my swim seems to have improved tremendously - I did the same race 2 years ago and came in 21 min 36 sec, which means I have improved by a whopping 955 seconds or 26%! ;-) Besides having good stroke correction advice from KN (whose identity will still stay secret) and R1/R2's swim coach, I think my start position also helped. I decided to try starting mid-pack this time (rather than my usual end-of-pack start position). It actually felt rather uncomfortable, because I was "forced" to swim right in the middle the whole way, thanks to being sandwiched between swimmers to the front and back of me. It felt like quite a fast pace, but I also remember feeling frustrated that I could not do a full stroke without touching the feet of the guys in front.

I got out of the water feeling a bit more "winded" than I would have liked, which probably explains why I got slower on the bike - 2 years ago, I did it in 41 min 56 sec, which means I was slower by 111 seconds which translates to a drop of about 4-5% in speed. Kinda frustrating that all the "go faster" add-ons to the bike - zero set-back seat post, Q-rotor chain ring, and racing clinchers - may not have contributed as much as I would have liked. :-(

While I am still a SLOW runner, I am encouraged that somehow I have picked up some speed. 2 years ago I did the run in 32 min 22 sec, which means I am now 145 seconds or 7.5% faster - like I said, not much, but faster is faster. :-) Perhaps running the 15km race 6 days before the Corporate Triathlon really did help.

So what does this mean in terms of my training plans for 2008? Well, I guess it means that I will do more of the same - mixture of intervals and long swims/runs, one brick a week, and some strength training. I would really like to ride more than once a week, but with the work and family commitments, I can't see it happening. One difference I will make is that I will (try) to be less "anal" about making my full number of sessions every week. More than one of you have told me this before - that at my (sporadic) level of training, I really don't need to have a rigid plan split into base/speed/race phases. What I will do is just stick to the motto of "Doing what I can" and not be too fussed about training sessions missed due to the kids, work, weather, etc... It's all part of my plan this year to focus on what's REALLY important. The other change I will try is to increase my long swim/bike/run to double Olympic (International) Triathlon distances - 3km/80km/20km.

In terms of my 2008 race calendar, I will probably start with the Singapore Biathlon 1st March, maybe the City Duathlon 18th May, working up to the OSIM International Triathlon 13 July, and ending the year with the New Balance Real Run and the Corporate Sprint Triathlon. If I do reach my long run objective of 20km this year, I may even close the year with my 1st even half marathon. Sounds like a plan huh? :-)

Job (Part II)

2007-12-21T00:22:00.000-08:00

I am making good progress trying to catch up with my bible reading - managed to cramp in 3 days' reading since Wed (chapters 14-23). And yes, that handsome duo on the right are indeed R1 & R2, they must take after their Dad. ;-)

The book of Job is interesting and yet tricky to understand because there really is just a fine line between what Job and his friends say.

But first, a quick synopsis: Job is a very wealthy/successful (Job 1:3) and righteous man - God calls him a "blameless and upright man" (Job 1:8). Satan asks and gets permission to test him severely, taking from Job his riches, children and even health. At his lowest point, Job suffered both physical (Job 7:5) and mental/spiritual (Job 7:13-14) torment. It is also at his lowest point, that his friends came to him with noble intentions of comforting him (Job 2:12-13). However when Job starts voicing his grievances to the Lord, it seems his friends felt that as good believers, they should jump to the defence of God, and in doing so, they can only conclude that Job has brought his sufferings upon himself simply because he is not truly blameless and upright. Finally, God answers Job, but He did not explain why He allowed Satan to test Job. He merely reminded Job that He is God. Job repents and reconciles with God (Job 42:5-6). The Lord also finds Job's friends guilty of speaking falsely of Him, and they had to receive intercession from Job (Job 42:7-8). The book of Job ends with God restoring everything and more to Job, and he lived a blessed life to a ripe old age (Job 42:12-17).

To me, the tricky bit in Job is to figure out what Job's friends said about God that was declared to be false (by God Himself)? It is tricky because there is actually a lot of truth in what Job's friends said (which Job agrees to), for example:
1. God is almighty and omnipotent - He is always in control.
2. God is perfect and beyond reproach, compared to Him we are all sinners.

3. God is just - the unrighteous do not profit forever, neither do the righteous suffer forever. (The limitation with them was the length of time - Job and his friends did not have the benefit of the New Testament message of eternal life, and thus judged only by what transpired during their time on earth).

Perhaps the big difference between what was said by Job and his friends is that his friends insisted that bad things don't happen to good people - i.e. if bad things happen were happening to Job, there must be something wrong with him. This is clearly not the case with Job, whom God Himself calls a "blameless and upright man" (Job 1:8). Job couldn't understand why the bad things were happening to him either, but he stubbornly refused to give up on God - he never stopped pouring out his grievances to Him. How kewl is that? More on that in Part 3...

Talking about kewl stuff, robtherunner has also signed up for the email bible reading plan. I am humbled.

Job

2007-12-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

Please excuse the pun, but this week, my job is keeping me from reading the book of Job. :-) Yup, my daily bible reading (http://www.bibleinayear.org/) jumps from Genesis to Job because I chose the chronological reading plan. And at work, I travel to 4 cities this week - Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok. As you can imagine, this is wrecking havoc to my bible reading and training. :-( Oh well, at least I am contributing to Singapore Airlines' growth. :-)

I am trying to catch up on the daily readings emailed to me, so this post is gonna be my thoughts after getting through Job 1 - 13 (which covers 3 days).

The book of Job has been a favourite of mine since 7 years back when R1 was born. He had a congenital problem at birth and subsequently required surgery at one year old. As you can imagine, having our 1st baby who was not quite completely and perfectly made (so we thought) was immensely stressful. At my lowest point, I made the painful confession to Mrs Nitrox that if I had known that our baby would have congenital problems, I would have elected not to have any children. Thankfully, God did not let go of me, despite my weakness and lack of faith. He brought me to the book of Job, and through it, I was immensely encouraged, because I learnt two fundermental truths - (1) that we can (and are required) to pour our honest, no-holds-barred thoughts/grievances to Him, and that (2) He will not test us beyond what we can bear, and at the end of the period of testing, comes complete and perfect restoration. Just to finish the story about R1, the Lord brought us to a fantastic surgeon, more than that, His hands restored R1 beyond the expectations of even the doctors, and we continue to trust Him in completing His miracle of restoration in R1.

Finally a quick shout out to CP, who is also joining the email bible reading plan (http://www.bibleinayear.org/). Thanks so much for sharing that CP, I am immensely encouraged - if this blog touches just one person, then it would already be worth my sporadic efforts. May the Lord bless you in your journey in re-discovering His word!

A New Beginning...

2007-12-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's reading (Genesis 8-11, New King James) is mostly about a new beginning, for Noah and the whole earth. Which kinda reflects where I am now - a new beginning.

At work, yet another re-org looms in 1st Jan, so one way or another, things are changing. Training-wise, I have just come off a month's break - started with a week long holiday in Disneyland Hong Kong, and just couldn't bring myself back to training until this week. On the spiritual level, I realised the importance of renewing my mind (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:17-24) and have committed to much more regular feeding on His word.

This should be an interesting year.

"If you do well, will you not be accepted?"

2007-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, yesterday's daily reading was Genesis chapters 4-7 [I am going through the New King James (NKJ) version]. This goes from Cain & Abel, to Noah & the great flood.

So what strikes me in yesterday's reading was what God said to Cain when He rejected Cain's offering (but accepted Abel's). He said "If you do well, will you not be accepted?..." (Genesis 4:7, NKJ). I have always wondered why God rejected Cain's offering, but the New King James version seems to be quite clear in saying that Cain just did not "do well". Hmmmmm, this reminds me that God expects the best from us when we work. Which makes me ashamed of the times when I may not have worked with the best (nor noble) intentions - office politics come to mind. Too many times have I decided to "take matters into my own hands" and did something "clever" in my own eyes to get back at the people/system that is trying to get me down. But what is "clever" in my own eyes is often not "wise" or acceptable in God's eyes.

God's requirement is simple and yet impossible to do without faith in His saving grace. He just wants us to "do well" - to work as for Him and not for men (Colossians 3:23) - not even for myself. He will even the score, not me (Proverbs 25:21-22). I gotta remember that.

His Awesome Patience

2007-12-12T05:45:00.000-08:00

Hi, I am trying to read through the bible in a year again, this time in New King James version. There is this very cool website http://www.bibleinayear.org/ which actually emails you the daily bible reading! I dunno about you, but I somehow fill obligated to read my office emails, so hopefully this will work better for me than the on-again, off-again attempts I have been making with other bible reading plans.

Being the smart aleck that I am, I have decided to post a short entry daily about what spoke to me in my daily readings. I am hoping that this serves to give me more discipline to get on track with the daily readings, and I will be praying that as you read the posts, He will speak directly to you and bless you despite my clumsy attempts at blogging.

OK, Day 1 is Genesis 1-3, exciting stuff about how God created the universe and all in it. As I read these chapters, something a good friend of mine shared resonates in my mind. In Chapter 3, when Adam and Eve takes of the forbidden fruit, do you suppose God knew straight away that they have in one single act of defiance thrown away all the good that God has planned for them in His perfect Will? Well, if He is indeed the all-knowing and omnipotent God, then He must know, right? So why did He ask Adam "Where are you?" (v10), and then "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" (v11). My friend suggested that since this is the first time Adam has sinned, God is probing Adam to get him to understand and confess what he has done, so that he learns.

What awesome patience! Imagine this, you have just stepped into the house after a long day of work and you find that Junior has been using your brand new $3,000 ZIPP wheels as a lever to move the fridge (despite being told NOT to touch it), and your ZIPP wheels now look more like a used wedge of lemon. For those asking "What's a ZIPP?", please substitue with Junior breaking your brand new wide screen plasma TV (picture not mine, by the way). Would you (1) Gasp/scream in horror, (2) Turn around and head for the pub, (3) Chase Junior around the house while screaming like a banshee, (4) Start thinking of all sorts of ways to punish Junior for his wilful act of disobedience, or (5) Ask him gently what he has done (despite the obvious circumstantial evidence) so that Junior has a chance to admit (and learn from) what he has done? I confess that I would have probably done (1) to (4) in combination. :-) Now do you see what I mean by "His Awesome Patience"?

I'm Back!

2007-12-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

Yup, after an absence of 4 months I am back on blogger, and you have found my new blog.

I've been doing a lot of soul-searching in the time I have been away, and I have come to the conclusion that I will focus more on what REALLY matters to me - God's awesome grace and His incredibly wise method to use us to save ourselves.

To be honest, it was also getting depressing talking about my Olympic/International and Sprint distance triathlon training/races amidst the incredible Ironman/Ironwomen/Marathoners here in blogger. :-) You just have to trust me when I say that I am still training and racing when I can (here's picture proof) - albeit Olympic and Sprint distances only.

For my old buddies, welcome back and sorry it took me so long to find myself in blogsphere. For the newcomers (and I am praying there will be some new readers) :-), do stick around and please be patient with my bungling attempts to record His incredible wisdom and miraculous grace in my life.