Karno!

In an earlier post, I wrote about Dean Karnazes' book and how inspirational it was. This video is about one of his exploits, 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. Inspirational and cool. Check it out.

Tonight is another "SuperBike". Two and a half hours of straight spinning. I expect it should be a solid 3000 calories.

Jakarta International School 5K

A sweaty mess.

I Don’t Jump High, I Fly Low

I finished a great week in the gym with a great finish. I beat my 5K personal best by 7 minutes – a blazing 45 minutes. I was targeting to run 10-minute kilometers (which would have been a two minute improvement), and I far exceeded that goal.

I was coming off a very intense week in the gym: over 13,000 calories burned last week. The workouts including a monster leg workout on Thursday (my legs are still sore on Monday afternoon). Given that I was not “fresh” and in fact quite sore from earlier workouts, I am especially pleased with the race results. I felt great after the race. In fact, after a quick protein shake and about 30 minutes downtime, I did a spin class and 3K more on the treadmill on Sunday morning. Barely able to walk, I did call it quits and skip the BodyPump class and afternoon workout I had been planning.

This week I need to try to squeeze as much final preparation work in as I can before the 10K race. I am behind in the NikePlus challenge and also still want to make up for lost time earlier this month when I was sick. It will be challenging though as I am writing this update en route to Papua.

A busy week proceeds Singapore – but I am so excited to see my girls and get after that race. Another big step, it’s just 217 days to Gold Coast Marathon.

Mardi Claus Returns - Stay Tuned...PCD May Dump Snoop for This Santa

Update from Singapore

Everything is Singapore is going well. My sore throat during the day of the delivery grews horns, evolving into a nasty respiratory and sinus infection. This was awful news in that I had to limit my time around Dakota, and wearing a mask the whole time I was with the baby. I am finally starting to feel better. At doctor's advice, I did not travel back to Jakarta. I will return to Jakarta this weekend to get back to work. Iren, Dakota, Erica, and Maria will remain in Singapore through the end of the month. Both Iren and Dakota will have follow up appointments in the next couple weeks, but so far all indications are that everyone is doing well. The whole family will return together to Jakarta on December 3rd, assuming all the check-ups go well.

The other major downside from this illness has been over a week with no real workouts. I bought a new bike in Singapore too, but I only have been able to use it once. This is bad news most immediately because the Singapore 10K race is coming soon, just a couple weeks to go. I am going to try to ease back into the gym this weekend, but I am still coughing alot and wheezing - so it's not ideal conditions for training for this big race.

Some of you have asked what's going to happen on Dec 31st. For lots of reasons, I am going to extend this program. Though I am much healthier than I was a year ago, I have not achieved the weight loss and fitness goals I envisioned. Therefore, I am extending the commitment through July 2008. The goal is to run the Gold Coast Marathon at a weight of 110 kilograms. This means there are concrete weight and fitness goals to be achieved.

That means I have 30 weeks to drop 40 kilos. An aggressive goal for sure, but I think it is possible. To drop 1.3 kilos a week, I need a negative weekly calorie balance of approximately 10,000 calories. Therefore, my strict fitness goal is to burn at least 10,000 calories per week.

Welcome to the World - Dakota Ratu Hanna

Dakota Ratu Hanna was born at 7AM on November 8, 2007 at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore. (Ratu is Indonesian for ‘queen.’)

Dakota weighed 2.7 kilograms, or nearly 6 pounds, at birth. But this figure is sure to change quickly because Dakota spends most of her time eating and sleeping, not unlike her father.

Though both are tired from the 12 hours of labor last night, Irene and Dakota are both doing well and are expected to rest and recover at the hospital through the weekend.

Not one to easily give up the limelight, Erica ensured some attention remained focused on her by Copperfield-ing Irene’s wedding ring yesterday morning. Though the ring remains missing in action, a frantic set of precautionary x-rays amid the check-in procedures for Irene confirmed that our little magician didn’t swallow the prop.

Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support.