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I hope everyone's holidays went (are going) well. I realized that I have a whole 4 blog posts for the month of December. Not good.
Christmas was fine though it was the first time in a few years that we didn't have a white Christmas, so that kinda sucked. No running related gifts this year, though I wasn't expecting any. Normally, we would have the week off between Christmas and New Years but I have a lot of deadlines in January so I ended up going into work, starting on the 26th. With very few people being around, I thought I'd try and see how much of a beard I could grow. That's a weeks worth of growth. Yeah pretty pathetic. I shaved it off yesterday.
Well i squeezed in 40 miles this week which is what I was hoping to get back to by the end of the year. Almost all of it again at low HR. I haven't been able to successfully keep track of my pace at low HR cause it seems to fluctuate a lot. Today I did 13 miles and my three lap track test had me at a pace of 9:22@ a HR of 150. About a month ago, I was able to do a pace of 9:06 @ 150. Earlier in the week I was just under 10 min/miles for that test, though I'm sure that the Christmas gorging had something to do with that.
As for the year 2006, I managed 1864.9 miles for the year which included 2 marathons, a half marathon, a 30k, three 10k's, and a 5k. I'm quite happy with the progress made this year, being able to set PR's in all the distances on pretty much nothing but marathon training. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to top this mileage in 2007 though, as I found I had very little spare time.
What does 2007 bring? I'd like to try and BQ but I haven't quite decided when the attempt will be. I've pretty much decided on doing a spring marathon on May 13th that will either be Mississauga or Forest City. Not sure which one yet. I'll have to see how the training goes. If I think I have a realistic shot at achieving my BQ time, then I'll do Mississauga which is net downhill and I've run previously, otherwise I'll do the other one. I also plan on a fall marathon, but haven't figured out where yet. It will really depend on whether I can BQ in the spring. I'd also like to meet some goals for the shorter distances,. Ideally ones that match my BQ time according to McMillan or Daniels Vdot tables.The Vdot tables are a bit more conservative for predicting times for shorter distances based on a longer distance so I'll go with them.
2007 goals
3:10:59 - marathon (BQ)
1:31:41 - half-marathon
41:24 - 10km
sub 20 min - 5km
So there it is. I hope everyone's holidays went well and that January 1st will bring you all a prosperous new year and faster race times!
2006 - Year in reviewPosted by Arcane on Sunday, December 31, 2006 at 11:00 AM
I hope everyone's holidays went (are going) well. I realized that I have a whole 4 blog posts for the month of December. Not good.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy FestivusPosted by Arcane on Saturday, December 23, 2006 at 10:45 PM
I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a festive seasonal greeting.
Some presents for you all:
1) I know some of you are or thinking of doing Pfitz' plan. I download these spreeadshets a while back that have the pfitz plans all laid out with some general guidelines of paces. Since the original site where I got it from no longer appears to have it, I thought I'd post it here. Pfitz' plan
2) For the voyeur in you.
The Toronto Santa Speedo Run
You can see more at http://www.torontosantaspeedorun.com/id10.html
3) Lastly, I thought I'd share my Chicago m'thon dvvd with you all in case anyone was thinking of buying theirs and wanted to know what it looked like or if you're just generally looking for some inspiration for next year. It's very similar to the one that's on the website and in fact I think they recycled the background cheering from last year, but still inspirational. It can be accessed here.
Insert Interesting Title Here.Posted by Arcane on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 11:07 PM
Okay, so i've been a bad blogger. I haven't posted in over a week and though I've been reading off and on other blogs, I haven't commented on any. The only reason is I came out of the woodwork is because I was tagged by Kristi. Weird game. I'm suppose to:
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.
1) Nearest book has been sitting on my nightstand for the past 6 months which I haven't touched in a long while
2)"Reason for Hope, a Spiritual Journey" by Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman.
3) Okay
4) Problem. Page 123 is the last page of a chapter and there are barely 6 lines on the page, let alone 8 sentences. This is from page 122.
"And many scientific experiments have shown that aggressive patterns, at the very least, are easy to learn. In the early 1970s, when I was an associate professor at Stanford, the psychiatrist Robert Bindora was conducting an experiment to test how readily small children learned aggressive patterns. He produced a dummy human figure, set it in front of a group of kids between two and three years old, then proceeded to beat, pummel, punch, stamp on and kick it.
5) I'm not sure who to tag since I'm uncertain who will actually read this, but I'll go with Mike, Steve and Perry. If anyone else wants to get into the game, consider yourself tagged.
Oh yeah I did a little over 30 miles of running, though not all of it at recovery HR. I did some of it at LSD HR. I did 9 miles yesterday and will try to get in another 9 miles tomorrow. I hope to get to 40 miles next week.
Good running to all and thanks for reading.
Low mileage weekPosted by Arcane on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 10:36 PM
Just a quick update. I did 9 miles on Tuesday last week and 3 miles yesterday for a whopping grand total of 12 miles last week. That's the lowest mileage week I've done since I came down with the flu in March and skipped a week.
I wanted to do a longer run today and the weather was nice, but I gave blood on Thursday and found that the 3 miler yesterday was real hard. I couldn't drag myself out of bed this morning and ended up skipping it.
My computer crashed last week and wouldn't boot at all. I ended up having to reinstall everything which included my RSS reeder. While waiting for things to reinstall, I discovered the Google RSS reader which I think is a little better than Bloglines.
More slow runningPosted by Arcane on Monday, December 4, 2006 at 7:25 PM
Did 37 miles last week, all at recovery pace trying to keep the HR below 150. Did a little over 9 miles each on Tuesday and Thursday, did 6 miles on Saturday and did a 13 mile long run yesterday. Weather was pretty good. Last Thursday was downright balmy when I ran outside in shorts and a t-shirt for what will probably be the last time this year.
I'm going to try and track how much I improve running slow. Each week, I will run three laps around a local track trying to keep my HR at just under 150 and figure out what my avg pace was. During my long run this week, I did it 3 times and generated this neat graph of pace vs. HR. (I finally get to use my engineering graphing skills). pretty good correlation between the three paces. Don't know how extrapolatable it is, but if I plug in my recent marathon pace, I get a HR of 170 which is just about right of what it should be, so maybe it's a good predictor. Anyways, it predicts a pace of 9:06 at 150. I was hoping to get that down to 8:30, but that seems like too much of a stretch in 2 months. I will be happy if I can get it to 8:45.
It's also about time for me to donate blood again. I try to do it twice a year. The last time I did it, my runs sucked for about 2-3 weeks. If I do it this week, I should be recovered in time for the new year.
Training UpdatePosted by Arcane on Sunday, November 26, 2006 at 8:09 PM
Did 12 miles today and 4 miles yesterday. Total for the week at about 22 miles. I was hoping to get back to about 40 miles a week before the end of the year, but life is just sort of getting in the way and it's been tough to get out. I noticed today that my HR is still way up at a slower pace. I'm hoping that if I put in the mileage that it'll come down eventually.
Okay, about the nasal mucous picture. I'm still not going to post the whole picture as things that get posted on the internet have a way of multiplying and I don't think my ego could handle that, so here is a close up of the nasal area. You'll just have to imagine the rest of me. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I actually have TWO pictures with the stuff hanging out.
I still may end up posting the whole picture, but I'll probably have to be good and drunk first.
Chicago mailings.Posted by Arcane on Thursday, November 23, 2006 at 10:39 PM
I did 6 miles on Tuesday. Don't think I'm going to be able to run again until the weekend due to work commitments.
I did get some Chicago related mailing this week. I signed up for the newspaper delivery at the expo. I kinda got caught up in the heat of the moment and realized after it was a stupid thing to do cause I could just pick up a newspaper the following day. Anyways that came on Tuesday, almost a month after the marathon. Neat seeing my name in it.
I also received yesterday my CD with my race pics and all i can say is that I think I like the small thumbnails from the website better since I now am in possession of what may be the worst race picture ever taken. I think there was only one time during the whole marathon where some nasal mucous (ie: snot) came dripping out of my nose. Yeah, I know it sounds a bit gross. Well let me tell you that I now have that exact moment saved for posterity on CD. I'm running, waving at the camera with a 1 inch string of mucous hanging down from my nose. It is by far the funniest picture I have ever seen of myself. No, I won't be posting it, so don't ask!
Training Update. Nov 13-19Posted by Arcane on Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 11:31 PM
Did 6 miles on Tuesday and about 5 miles on Thursday. Did them both pretty late in the evening, after 9pm. Did them both at recovery pace.
I had company for a 12 mile long run today. Ended up having to forego the low HR training for at least today. Ran at my normal long run pace, but the course was quite hilly. Don't know if it was a hill thing or if I'm losing fitness or if it was the chatting and gasping for breath while running, but my HR was WAY up.
I also bought a new pair of shoes this past week. I had to use up a 20% coupon before it expired on Wednesday. I'm still experimenting with shoes and decided to buy a pair of Mizuno Grid Alchemy 6's. I've never tried Mizuno shoes before. Kinda pricey but really light. They're shiny and look cool.
In memorialPosted by Arcane on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at 11:09 PM
I haven't had a lot of time to read or post as of late. I don't know if it's just me but it seems that there are a lot more people blogging more often. I check my news reader and I'm faced with 50 new posts! I guess people have more time available to them now that it's getting cooler.
I received an industry newsletter that I get every other month yesterday. It sometimes contains interesting articles, but it's mostly just ads and announcements. There are sometimes memorials of people that have passed on. They are normally of people working in my field that have long since retired and have passed on due to old age. I tossed my newsletter out yesterday without really giving it a good look through, but a colleague of mine pointed out to me today one of the memorials which I had skipped right over.
He was about my age and he died after having run a 10km race on July 1. I had actually considered running in that particular race. i don't remember hearing anything about it at the time so I'm kind of stunned that this is the first I've heard about it. An autopsy didn't reveal any inherent heart problems and his death is still a mystery.
I didn't know him, but his death really makes me think. He didn't have heart problems like the man who passed on at the recent Scotiabank marathon and he looks healthy in the pictures. It really makes you reconsider things.
Rest in Peace, Perry.
Slow runningPosted by Arcane on Sunday, November 12, 2006 at 11:12 PM
Did a little under 7 miles on the treadmill at the gym cause it was raining.
Did about 12 miles today outside.
Did a little over 30 miles for the week.
I did both of these runs at recovery pace. With no more races for the year, I've moved into my base building mode for the winter which means I will try to do nothing but recovery runs and trying to keep my HR below 150. I found it worked well for me last year helping me build endurance. I read about this last year at this site. My goal is to try and give a solid 2 months of this low heart rate training. My hope is that by at the end of the 2 months, I will be able to average better than 8:30 min/miles at a HR of 150. Currently I can do a little over 9 min/miles at that HR. Based on my recent marathon time and fooling around with McMillan, that website says I should be able to average 8 min miles at that HR.
Race picsPosted by Arcane on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 9:16 PM
I went out for running for about an hour today and yesterday. Did about 7 miles each time. I've been having a hard time getting motivated to get out with nothing in particular to train for. I've decided that I don't want to do a 5k before years end. Though it would be nice to have set a PR for one, I generally find them tough to do. I'll do one next spring.
They posted pictures from the 10k race I did on Sunday and mine weren't so great.
Here's me at the beginning breathing normally and staring at the butt of the person in front of me and yes Sonia if you look closely you can see my collar bone sticking out.
Here's me about 5 m from the finish line with my head down, sprinting about as fast as I can.
Here's a closer shot of me a few moments later feeling like I'm about to have a heart attack.
10 k race reportPosted by Arcane on Sunday, November 5, 2006 at 9:02 PM
I did a 10 k race this morning. Finish time of 42:16 (chip) . I signed up for this race cause the last 10k a did a few weeks before Chicago was a bit short and I wanted to take advantage of my marathon training to see what my 10k PR was and to use it as a benchmark for next year. I picked this race cause it was "certified" meaning that it was presumably accurately measured to be at least 10k. Having said that, a part of me thinks the course was short which I'll get to.
I decided to run this with my HR monitor to see what it was like during a shorter race. I understand now why people put tape over the HR reading. It's useful to analyze the data afterwards, but its scary seeing the numbers during the race.
Here is my HR and split times
|Lap Time
|HR Max
|HR Avg
|5:07 (???)
Based on my recent marathon time, McMillan thinks I can do a 10k in 42:00 but considering I didn't run very much these past few weeks, I thought I'd be a bit more conservative and aim for a 42:30 finish though i would have been happy with a sub 43 minute finish which is what I was hoping for last time. I did the first km at 4:00 min and hit the 1 mile marker at just under 6:30 pace. Whoops. Try to slow down a bit but the adrenaline was still rushing. Km 3 and 4 are about right, but my HR is skyrocketing which was an alarming thing for me to see during the race. During the VO2Max training for my marathon the highest HR I ever hit was 186. During my one Yasso's workout, I topped out at 190. Now here I am just barely half way through a 10k race and my HR is hitting 194 and 195.
I fall into a comfortable pace through to 7 km, at which point I decide to try and pour it on. By the time i hit the 8 km mark, I had developed a nasty side stitch. I try deep breathing and rubbing it, but it ain't going away. I start to slow down and my HR slows down with it. I thought I was going much slower than I was, but it turned out I had slowed down to "marathon pace". I pass the 9 km marker and the stitch isn't hurting so much but I can feel it's still there. I hear some footsteps behind me and decide that I'm not going to let whoever it is pass me, so I pick up the pace. I sprint the last 400m with my stitch growing ever more painful and finish about a second ahead of him.
According to my watch, I ran the last km in 3:11 or at a 5:07 min/mile pace which can't be right so either the course was short (AGAIN) or the last km was mismarked. I'm leaning toward the short course since all of the previous km's looked pretty accurate and the one that was recorded to be slower I knew I had definitely slowed down because of the stitch. Considering that the course was supposed to be "certified", there's also a possibility that the course as a whole was accurate, but that all the markers were off which resulted in the last marker being off by so much.
I came in 13th overall and 3rd in my age group. Since the guy who finished 1st in my age group finished 2nd overall (BTW, I think i went to high school with him; his name looks familiar) and there was no double dipping, I was given the 2nd place prize in my age group which was a little nike tote bag. Sweet!
I may try and do a 5k before the end of the year just to get a PR time for that. I ran the first 5k of this race faster than my 5k PR so that needs to be updated with a true 5k only distance. But barring that I'm done with racing for the year. Time to go into maintenance mode to try keep from losing my gains for the year.
Who treats sore feet?Posted by Arcane on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 3:49 PM
WE treat sore feet. I picked up my race kit for my race tomorrow. Pretty nice collection of things. A red Nike technical t-shirt and a polycarbonate water bottle were included. The shirt has a sponsor logo displayed prominently on the sleeve, but it's free so I can't really complain.
My race kit had a fridge magnet for a foot clinic. If you want to see some disgusting pictures of various foot related problems, that's the site to visit. I don't know how much they spend on advertising, but as far as I can remember, EVERY single race kit I've ever received in and around the Toronto area has had one of these fridge magnets. Here's my collection.
I did a 3 mile recovery run with some strides this morning. Nice slow pace.
I've been spending some time looking at various marathons for the spring. I'd like to do a marathon in the spring but don't like the idea of trying to put in hard training during the winter months. I did winter training for the first time this year and hated it. Granted most of the runs were at the gym and I came down with a virus which knocked out my training for about 2 weeks so my general recollection is that it sucked. I've been thinking of trying the FIRST marathon training plan. It's a 3 day a week plan. The main purpose will be to give me some structure so that I can maintain my fitness gains of the past year. I'm not sure it'll get me to a BQ in the spring, but if it does, that'll be gravy. My real BQ attempt will be sometime next fall where I will have had the whole summer to prepare.
As for the actual spring event, it's a bit tough to say. I'm looking at marathon's in May. I see a lot of RBF are doing the Flying Pig in Cincinnati. I'm leaning towards avoiding travel to a US event so I'm looking at events closer by. I did the Mississauga marathon last year and may do it again but would rather not do a race that I've already done. Two that are looking as possible candidates are Forest City and Ottawa. Don't know for sure yet, but I don't really have to decide until the new year.
Last bit of speedworkPosted by Arcane on Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 8:24 PM
I'm just getting over a bit of a cold. I've been sleeping 9 hours a night for the past couple of days and does it ever feel good. No more having to get up at 5am in the morning to head out for a 12 mile run.
I decided to head to the track after work today to get some speed work in prior to my last race of the season this weekend. I guess it will be the last time I run around a track until next year.
I have to say that I'm a bit lost in how to prepare for a 10k a week before the race. There really isn't a one week training plan for a 10k race out there so I decided to just do a 1200m, an 800m and 2x400m intervals at 5k race pace. I threw in a couple of strides afterwards. It was way too dark though.
I've been gorging on chocolate for the last couple of days. I purchased way too much stuff for Halloween and I have about 4 pounds of chocolate leftover. I think I'll try and pawn some it off on my co-workers tomorrow.
So I splurged and purchased a CD of all my photos from the Chicago marathon and the DVD of me running. Oh well, what's another $150? None of my photos were outstanding, but there were about 20 of them taken which is pretty good so i figure it's worth it. I'm really interested in getting the DVD to see what I look like when I running. I've never really seen myself run other than the brief glimpse I may get while running by a reflective window so that should be neat.
Getting back into it.Posted by Arcane on Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 5:22 PM
I figured that I should get a semi long run in before my 10k race next weekend. So I went out and did a 10 mile long run that was much slower than I normally do. It didn't help that the wind was blowing around like crazy this morning.
If you want to see a HR for a person that has clearly not recovered from running a marathon, you need not look any further.
|Lap Time
|Lap Time
Even though these paces were at or slower than my recovery run pace, I had a hard time keeping the HR below 160 which is the upper end of my long run HR. Considering that just two weeks ago, i did a 12 mile long run at a lower HR and a minute per mile faster pace clearly indicates that I'm not any where near being recovered. There's that general rule of thumb that prior to running a race, you should wait at least 1 day for every mile that you previously raced. I should therefore wait 26 days before racing again. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to sign up up for that 10k next week.
Well the clocks were set back one hour this morning and as I write this it's just after 5:30pm and it's almost dark outside. That sucks. On the bright side, there should be some light outside in the mornings when (if?) I go for a run.
Post Marathon RunPosted by Arcane on Friday, October 27, 2006 at 11:00 PM
Well the quad pain was basically gone by Thursday and I was bounding up and down the stairs like it was just another week. I do have a bit of a sore throat from breathing in that cold dry air for 3+ hours and a nice blue toenail on my left foot which are the only two physical reminders left that I had run the marathon.
I signed up for a 10k race next weekend as a result of my not knowing what my 10k PR is based on the short course 10k from a few weeks ago. The course is certified as a 10k so no short distances this time. Needless to say, I've been itching to get back into things. It rained all evening here and I've been sleeping in as of late, so I headed to the gym for a run at about 9pm. I probably haven't been there since March. It pretty much looked the same as I remember it, but they replaced some of the treadmills with some newer equipment. Nice! I ended up doing only 3 miles. 2.5 were at recovery pace. For fun, i ramped up the speed to 8 miles/hr for half a mile since this was the average pace I had run for the entire marathon. It felt great.
Chicago Marathon Race ReportPosted by Arcane on Tuesday, October 24, 2006 at 9:41 PM
Race Report:
Sorry for the long report. i've had a couple of days to write it and i was waiting to get back to Toronto before I posted it so I could add the split times. So here is the War and Peace version.
Morning of Race
I woke up at 5:00 am to eat a bagel and peanut butter. I had actually brought down with me a bag of bagels and a small jar of PB from Canada. There say nothing new on race day so that's been a bit of a ritual for me in the past. I did do one new thing out of necessity which was to try and hydrate with gatorade endurance which I had picked up at the expo the day before. They don't sell that stuff in Canada yet and so the first time I tried it was at the expo. Though I bit saltier than the regular gatorade that I'm used to, it didn't give me any problems so I figurerd I would be okay drinking that stuff during the race.
I had checked the weather forecast of about 40-44F the night before and had decided to go with a long sleeve technical shirt and shorts. For the start, I was bringing my throwaway fleece pullover and the always fashionable garbage bag in case there was rain. I also had some throwaway dollar store gloves and hat, but as it turns out I ended up wearing the gloves and hat for the whole race.
Left the hotel room at just after 6am to catch a 6:15 shuttle to the start line which I had payed $10 for. The hotel was offering this transportation to us and the $10 seemed a bit pricey considering that the hotel is only 1.5 miles away from the start line, but I figurerd why try and deal with the unknown of hailing a cab on race morning. So I joined a bunch of runners outside of the hotel figuring that there would be a bunch of minivans to pick us up when a stretch limo pulls up to the curb. We all start looking at each other and then we realize that the limo is for us! So we all pile in and ride to the start line in STYLE! Ride over was quiet. No one talked and it was quite clear that everyone was nervous with anticipation.
Arrived at the start line and proceeded to the trophy tent. I had signed up for this at the last minute paying a ridiculous cost of $75, but as it turns out, it was worth every penny. I got to avoid the line ups for the porty potty's, bag check and most importantly, I got to stay somewhat warm while standing around. I was also able to use the bathroom facilities twice before I headed out to the start corrals. Left the trophy tent at about 7:15 and headed to the corrals. I was kinda worried cause they kept announcing that it would take 30 minutes to get into the preferred corrals and they were going to close them at 7:40. So I did a slow jog over there, but arrived with plenty of time. The warm jog had triggered my bladder to want to release more liquid which was weird since I had just pee-ed 15 minutes prior to that. Not wanting to wait in line, I joined the rest of the males that were peeing in nearby bushes. Ahh, it's great to be a man. I was now certain that my system was devoid of all excess liquid.
I entered the corral which was still pretty empty and having reviewed the course the night before, I realized that the first two turns were to the left so took up residence beside the 3:20 pace group on the left side which would mean I wouldn't have to cross over when doing the first 2 turns. Started to idly chat with some other runners about goal times and then chucked the garbage bag and the fleece with about 3 minutes to go and then we were off.
Miles 1 to 5
Stuck with the pace group for the first couple of miles. It was a bit tough though since I was running ahead of them on the opposite side of the street. I had to keep looking back to see where they were. Missed the first mile marker, but hit the second one at 15:07 which was just slightly faster than the target pace of 7:38, but pretty good. Mile 3 was a bit fast at 7:24 and then I missed the mile 4 marker. The split at mile 5 was 14:19 which was WAY too fast (7:10 pace). At somepoint between miles 4 and 5, the 3:20 pace leader realized he was going too fast and yelled out that the 3:20 group was going to slow down. At this point, we were about a minute ahead of 3:20 and I had to make a decision. Do I slow down with the pace group to lose the 1 minute that I'd already "banked" or do I just try and continue running at a 7:38 pace on my own. I decided to continue on without the pace group.
Miles 6-13.1
Even though I had left the pace group, it seems that I wouldn't be running alone. There were a few people that had the same thoughts that were wearing a 3:20 pace bib on their back. I had signed up for the pace team, but didn't wear the bib cause I was afraid of failing. In hindsight, I should have worn it as I realize now how much it assists others. I latched on to one guy who had 3:20 Boston or Bust on the back of his shirt and continued with him. These miles were all slightly faster than race pace. I took my first gel at the 6 mile aid station at about the 45 minute mark. The instructins say to take one every 45 minutes and that's what I did from that point on. I hit the half mark at 1:36:53 which means I had banked a little over 3 minutes. At this point, I was staring to worry a bit about having gone out too fast.
Mile 14-20
I let the Boston or Bust guy go cause he was still going a bit fast and I was afraid I would hit the wall. These miles were pretty much on pace which means I had basically maintained the 3 minutes of banked time. I found myself at various times doing some mental math to figure out how much time I could lose per mile and still finish under my goal of 3:20. At the halfway mark, I figured I could slow down by 10 seconds per mile and finish under my goal. At mile 20, I realized that I could slow down by 30 seconds per mile to a 8:08 pace and still finish under 3:20. This was a great relief to me as baring an injury, I was pretty certain I would be able break 3:20.
Miles 20-23
I passed Perry the joggler at about the 20.5 mile mark. I was hoping to run into him in the staring corral but didn't. I certainly didn't expect to encounter him during the race. I quickly said "Hi perry", but since he was juggling, I realized he probably wasn't going to be able to talk. These miles were also pretty much on pace. In previous marathons, this is usually at the point where I feel like I need to pee. But this time, there was no feeling of urgency or impending doom which was great. My quads were a little sore at this point, but my calves were fine and my breathing was still steady.
Miles 24-FINISH
The last few miles went north into a bit of a head wind and I ended up having to slow down. Mile 24 and 25 were at 7:46 and 7:51 respectively. I did the last 1.2 in 9:09 which was a 7:30 pace. I'd been warned about the last little "hill" which I didn't find too bad. Finish time of 3:17:05, with an average pace of 7:31. A PR that was much better than I was hoping. I had run the second half at my expected marathon pace which I'm very happy with.
For anyone interested in stats, here are the splits.
|Cumulative time under 3:20
|5k time
Crossed the finish line, got my chip removed, grabbed some food, water and some BEER. I don't know why Canadian marathons don't serve beer, but they should as it's an excellent source of carbs. Wondered around a bit, got my picture taken a few times and then headed back to the trophy tent to pick up my gear, get a massage and down some food. I decided to walk back to the hotel which was actually quite good as a cool-down.
So i beat my main goal which was to break 3:20. As a bonus, I didn't have to stop to pee which was always a problem for me in the past. I also ran the entire way not stopping to walk at all which is also a first.
I see a lot of people didn't like the cold, but I thought it was almost perfect marathon weather. Maybe it was just that I had worn the right mix of clothing, but other than the last few miles into the wind and the few minutes prior to the start where I was just standing around, I was never really too warm or too cold.
The fans were great and the volunteers handing out fluids, gels and bananas were great. I kinda wish now that I had put my name on my shirt, as I was getting jealous at all the people around me getting their names called out. For a few miles, I was running beside a guy with a Canada shirt so people would yell out "Go Canada" which made it seem like they were yelling at me.
Pfitz's plan is DA BOMB. It's a lot of mileage and the first few weeks are really tough but it produces results. I knocked off almost 19 minutes off my PR in a little over 5 months of training. If you consider all the other Chicago bound runners who were on Pfitz, Bob, LeahC, Jason, Ryan and Ugly Toes, they all did really well and set PR's, even jason who was sufering with some major pains set a PR. I highly recommend the plan. It works.
Boston? I had this goal that if I could break 3:20, I would consider a Boston attempt of 3:10 next spring. Having been able to reflect on it for a few days, I'm still on the fence about it. Part of me wants to try in the spring just to get it over with, but another part of me wants to try and qualify next fall so that the time would be valid for 2 Bostons, so maybe Chicago is in the cards for next year too.
RBF Get-together
Showed up at the RBF dinner to finally get to meet some of the people I've been reading about. It was nice to meet you all and put a face to the blogs. Unfortunately I didn't get to chat with everyone, but at least I know what you all look like!
I'd like to thank you all for the support over the past couple of months. I started this blog with the intenion of providing me some motivation and have received it in spades from all of you. I certainly could not have acheived this without you, so thank you.
Since some of you now know my name and it's not too difficult to figure out who I am from my race picture, I suppose that trying to do the "anonymous" blog thing probably isn't going to work. Maybe I'll start using my real name...
Chicago. I came, I ran, I PR'ed!Posted by Arcane on Sunday, October 22, 2006 at 5:54 PM
3:17:05. Did a little better than I thought and I'm super happy about it!
Race report to come.
I'm here!Posted by Arcane on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:19 PM
I'm in Chicago!
Did 4 miles including 6 strides this morning.
Going to go pick up the race packet tomorrow morning!
Right now, I'm going to try and head off to sleep to get my beauty rest.
UpdatePosted by Arcane on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 10:31 PM
No running today.
I'm trying to pack for Chicago and do some last minute laundry. I'm having a minor crisis at work and as it turns out I'm going to have to go in for half a day tomorrow which means I have to finish packing tonight.
I promised myself I would post at least once a day until race day and provided my hotel has reasonable internet access I intend to do that. Anyhow, I hate to cut this post short, but I have a load of things to do before tomorrow.
GOOD LUCK to all you racers out there!!
Trigger PointsPosted by Arcane on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 9:04 PM
Did 7 miles this morning with 2@ marathon pace. I did the 2 @ MP around a local track. A 3:20 marathon equals a 7:38 mile or about a 1:54 lap.
I found it hard to know what the proper pace was for the first mile. Overall I averaged 7:37 for the whole 8 laps, but come race day I'm not going to have pacing feedback every 400m.
One issue I've always had during previous tapers is the development of trigger points in my calves. These are basically little knots that form in your muscles that cause little annoying pains. When the trigger points are massaged however, they hurt like hell. I've got one that's developed in my left calf. I know that if I massage it every hour that it will generally be gone in about 3-4 days which is just about perfect in being ready for Sunday. I jsut hope that I don't develop another one.
Rain Rain Go Away!Posted by Arcane on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 9:02 PM
Please come back after marathon day!
So I've seen conflicting weather reports for Chicago on Sunday. Some say it's going to rain, some don't.
It rained all day today in Toronto and lucky me I had a 6 mile recovery run scheduled for the morning. It wasn't too cold outside and I thought it would be refreshing so I headed out the door but only ended up doing 4 miles. Tomorrow morning has 7 miles scheduled with 2 @ marathon pace. I'm going to head to the track and see if I can get a feel for what a 3:20 marathon pace feels like. About 1:54 per lap.
I came to the realization today during one of my frequent trips to the men's room (damn water drinking) that I have another goal for Chicago that I didn't mention yesterday and that is to run the whole marathon without having to stop to pee. I've always had to stop in my previous marathons at around the 35 km mark to empty the system and I'm hoping to get the hydration thing right this year. Now if it's raining, all bets are off and if I really need to go I may just let the liquid flow as I'm running so there's another reason to pray that it doesn't rain or at the very least hope that you're not running behind me.
Game Plan for Race DayPosted by Arcane on Monday, October 16, 2006 at 8:46 PM
No running today.
I've started trying to figure out a game plan for race day. I've decided that I'm going to try for 3:20. My half marathon time says I can do it and Yasso 800's says I can do it. It would represent a 16 minute improvement in my marathon time in a little over 5 months. Pfitz' plan has been great and I've really felt I've improved but is this biting off more than I can chew? No guts, no glory.
I'm contemplating whether I should sign up for the pace teams. From what the website says, you get a pace band and a bib that states your goal time to wear on your back. I may sign up to get the pace band, but I'm afraid of wearing the bib in case I crash and burn and end up having to slow down. I'd hate for someone to be following me with the intention of running 3:20 to be disappointed because of my failure. I may just try to forego the whole sign up thing and just try and stick with the pace bunny for the whole race, assuming he/she doesn't get lost in the sea of people.
They say you should set several goals for a race with one being your ultimate goal and at least one being realistic. So for Chicago, I've set my three main goals as follows in order of preference:
1) Sub 3:20
2) Sub 3:25
3) Sub 3:35
One other goal that I've always had was running a negative split, but in my experience that just isn't possible for me.
On a side, note, as luck would have it, I received two tickets to the Raptor's exhibition game on Sunday against Lebron James and the Cavaliers. That's right, this Sunday. I guess that's one game I won't be going to.
Hurry up damn week! Finish already!!
Last long runPosted by Arcane on Sunday, October 15, 2006 at 9:55 PM
First of all, I have to give some props to the poetic muse that is Jayhawk for her Ode to the Chicago Marathon Bloggers. Visit, read and be entertained!
Did my last long run today prior to the MARATHON next Sunday. I did 12.1 miles at a little over 8:30 pace. Even though this was quite long for the Sunday prior to race day, it went pretty much without incident. I definitely felt strong. This taper thing is really working. I tried to work on my turnover and my breathing during this run. Yeah it's probably a bit late to try and fix any problems, but the nervous energy in me made me feel like I should have been doing something.
Before doing my long run, I went to see the start of the Toronto marathon. Don't ask me why Toronto has two marathons spaced 3 weeks a part because no one has a sensible answer to that. Toronto really sucks in supporting their marathons. It's nothing like in other cities like Chicago where you get fan support lining almost every foot of the course. I watched and cheered the start of the half and the full. I brought my camera to take some pictures but couldn't get it to work. I had thought that the batteries had run dry. By the time I figured out that the batteries had been inserted wrong, all the runners had gone. :( The mayor of Toronto was out to cheer on the start of the runners and I was able to get my picture taken with him. Notice how I'm bundled up like it's the middle of winter? I'm really paranoid about catching a cold this close to race day.
6 days!!!!
Taper shoppingPosted by Arcane on Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 7:02 PM
I did one ritualistic thing today which was to get my hair cut. It doesn't matter if I need one or not, but I always get my hair cut the week before a big race. It probably doesn't make much of a difference but less hair, means less weight which means I run faster. At least that's the theory I'm sticking with.
In the past, I've boughten stuff during the taper that I probably wouldn't normally purchase. Included amongst previous purchases are a dehumidifier, an Orick air purifier, a learn to speak french computer program and Grand Theft Auto:Vice city (a computer game). The dehumdifier, and the software programs are still sitting in their original boxes. I've used the Orick purifier maybe 5 times total.
I glad to say that I've resisted the temptation to purchase anything during the taper except for today. Today I found myself in a thrift store purchasing a toss away sweat shirt. I've heard about the "big toss" where everyone starts pitching their warm-up stuff to the sides of the course right before the marathon starts. If you watch the chicago marathon videos on the shots where they show the start area you can see people tossing the clothes off to the side. It kinda looks like confetti so you may not notice it. These clothes get collected and donated to charity so if you're doing Chicago, bring some along.
I was going to buy something that identified I was from Toronto or Canada, but I starting thinking that if the clothes get donated to someone in the US, they may not want a "I Love Canada" shirt, so I ended up purchasing something red but that looked at least half decent.
ExcusesPosted by Arcane
Yesterday, Pfitz's plan has 5 recovery miles including 6 strides scheduled. I had intended to get up in the morning and do them, but one look at the thermometer which was showing 2C and I said forget it. I know all you runners in Chicago are suffering through a cold windy spell and that Buffalo had 2 feet of snow dumped on it and that I shouldn't be so much of a sissy in regards to the temperature, but hey I'm paranoid about getting sick.
I got home from work and ended up eating a quick dinner with the intention of heading to the gym at about 9. I haven't been to the gym in a couple of months. I do this every year where I vow to cancel my membership in the early spring since I know I'm not going to use it over the summer, but a part of me thinks that I will and then fall comes with the cooler weather and I come to the realization that I've thrown away $300 in membership fees.
I didn't end up getting to the gym, I tried to take a quick nap and ended up sleeping for a couple of hours. I woke up at about 11pm and quite frankly, I was trying to come up with a good excuse as to why I should skip the run.
It's cold outside
It's only a recovery run, it won't matter if it's skipped.
Because I don't feel like it.
These seemed like lame excuses since others in blogland are suffering through worst conditions. I didn't think I could justify it to you the readers, so I put on my running clothes at 11pm and headed out the door. I'm glad I went cause it wasn't that cold and there was no wind. I've never really experienced the so called "runner's high", but I probably came damn close to it last night. I think I'm going to head down to watch and cheer at the start of the Toronto Marathon tomorrow to further provide me with some motivation.
Thanks all for reading.
8 days and counting!!
Now it's taper timePosted by Arcane on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 11:55 PM
Did the last VO2Max workout and it was a doosie. 8 miles including 3x1600m @ 5k pace with 2 minute recoverys. Split times for the intervals were:
This is pretty consistent with what I've been doing for these VO2Max workout that generally co-incide with 1:40 per 400m which translates into 6:40 for the 4 laps, but my secret goal was to try and do these in at least 6:35. I've been using my marathon day shoes for the past few runs and the one problem I ran into was since it was raining a bit today, my not-broken-in shoe-laces were still a bit slippery and kept coming undone for the first two intervals. This ended up screwing up my recovery times since I had to stop to tie them.
Well that's basically it for the hard workouts for this training session. I now feel like the taper is beginning since Pfitz just has recovery and easy miles the rest of the way with a few strides thrown in. So now the taper madness will begin. I can't wait for race day!
Training update and race picsPosted by Arcane on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 8:34 PM
Did 7 miles this morning with 8 strides. My quads have been a little sore since Sunday. I think the combination of a race and a long run this past weekend beat them up pretty good. Luckily I won't have to do that again anytime soon.
I got my confirmation kit in the mail today for Chicago! Bib number 8415! I'm not sure why that's of any use to anyone but me, but I see people posting their bib numbers all over the place, so I thought I'd join in.
They posted some race pics from the 10k I did on the weekend. Here are the two they took of me.
I think my eyes are closed in the first one. These with taken with about 30m left to go so I'm panting and breathing heavily and just generally wishing that it would be over. I also checked out the picture of the guy who beat me and sure enough it was the guy who was running the wrong direction on the course! I was ROBBED!!!
Now that's off my chest, I've now started looking for a 10k race to run after Chicago. I really would like to have a PR time that I know is for the 10k. This time I'm going to pick a 10k course that is "certified". There's one about 2 weeks after Chicago. I'm not sure if that's enough time to recover, but right now that's looking as the only possibility for the remainder of the year.
16 miles during a taper?Posted by Arcane on Sunday, October 8, 2006 at 8:40 PM
I did a 16 mile long run today based on Pfitzinger's training plan. All my previous tapers, had a 12 mile long run for the first weekend of the taper. I'm not sure why Pfitz thinks it's necessary to do that much especially the day after a tune-up race.
Well i didn't hydrate that well yesterday after my race and I woke up this morning feeling a little dehydrated. I drank some water and headed out the door. I decided to try and run slow, but not quite at recovery pace. The first part of the run, I avergaed a little over 9 min/miles. I did run into a little problem though. About 10 miles into the run, I stopped by the only water fountain in the area for a refill only to find out that they turned it off. Add to that it was starting to warm up and that I had foolishly worn two long sleeve shirts and that pretty much made for a miserable last few miles. I ended up slowing down to a 9:30 pace. I got home and weighed myself and I was down 6 pounds from my normal weight. I going to call this a character building run.
Total for the week was about 39 miles. Next week is looking a little more like a taper week with THREE whole rest days! Pfitz still wants a 12 mile long run next Sunday though. I'm thinking of doing the Toronto half marathon as a training run, but I'm concerned with the longish hilly portions. Since I haven't done much hill training, I don't want to be using muscles I haven't used this training cycle only one week before marathon day.
Tomorrow's turkey day up here in Canada.
Gobble Gobble!
2 weeks and counting!
Not quite 10k race reportPosted by Arcane on Saturday, October 7, 2006 at 2:22 PM
Did a 10 km race this morning. Finished with a chip time of 41:23 which would be a super monster PR. But unfortunately the course was significantly short. Apparently the race was setup to coincide with a local town fair and the last part of the original route was to circle around a bunch of side streets and run through the main street. On race day however, they had booths and picnic tables set up on the main street, so the course was changed. I checked with a couple of people with garmins who all reported the course was short. The shortest I was able to find was 9.8 km, but I think the course is still shorter than that. I didn't run with my HR, but did run with a watch. I missed a couple of the markers, split times were:
I came in second overall and ended up winning a $30 gift certificate. The only problem is that I think I actually finished first. The race started at the same time for both a 5 and 10km. The 10k runners split off at a water station at about the 2.5 km mark. When I hit the split off point, I heard one of the volunteers yell out that I was the first 10k runner at that point. Now she could have been wrong, but I figure at that point, he would have been about 100m ahead of me since I ended up finishing a little over 1 minute behind him. I didn't see anyone ahead of me and didn't see anyone behind me and no one passed me from that point on. I did see a guy with a bib number running in the opposite direction while out on the extra portion of the 10k course which could of been him so I was thinking he might have missed the turn off point and decided to run the 10k course in the opposite direction. The only problem is that by doing that he missed a loop part that the 5km would have bypassed. I did some checking and the guy that finshed ahead of me ran the Scotiabank marathon 2 weeks ago in a time of 3:47 which does not translate into anything close to a 41 minute 10k. But for the moment, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I did come away with a $30 gift certificate so I can't complain.
I am a tad miffed at the short course though since I was hoping to use my time to figure out what my marathon pace should be. It's probably for the best though. I was having a hard time with the hills on this course so I'm guessing it's best to live in ignorance and find out what I can (or can't) do in Chicago.
BTW, happy thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians!
Weird websites.Posted by Arcane on Friday, October 6, 2006 at 8:36 PM
Someone passed this on to me today and I thought it was hilarious. I thought I'd share with blogland.
Www.ackiest sites on the net
1. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at www.gotahoe.com
2. Therapists in the US merely wanted to offer troubled souls a shoulder to cry on. Let's hope their advice is not as short-sighted as whoever registered the URL www.therapistfinder.com
3. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is www.cummingfirst.com
4. There is one betting site that is way out in front as our favorite. With their name they are bound to attract a lot of people looking for each-way wagers: www.oddsexchange.com
5. "We're not just a printer," claims the American firm Tri-Plex. And they guarantee: "Short runs or long, we can handle both equally well." But it makes you wonder what kind of service they are offering from their website with a name like this: www.triplexbusiness.com
6. If you are looking for a place to download the latest songs you might think this one is a homage to bad digital music. Mind you, the site is flagging up the new Michael Bolton album, so maybe it does what is says on the tin after all: www.mp3shits.com
7. Law firm Morrison & Foerster have more than 1,000 legal eagles worldwide. Surely you would have thought one would have spotted the clanger in their site. They couldn't have been briefed properly that it contains a slang abbreviation for a rather strong swear word that would leave them in contempt in the courtroom: www.mofo.com
8. This drinks franchise has spawned a host of copycat stores around the US as it attracts customers by the barrel-load desperate for a schoolboy giggle and quick slurp: www.beaverliquors.com
9. Some say Americans don't understand irony and a site set up by Ingleside Vineyards of Virginia bears that out. They must be flushed with success if the name they chose is anything to go by: www.ipwine.com
10. The plant-growers of Mole Station Nursery in New South Wales claim to specialise in the production of frost- hardy native shrubs and farm trees. Sounds like they are more into deflowering: www.molestationnursery.com
11. If you need an IT professional to fix your broken PC this could be a great place to start, especially if you are having a problem with your hard drive or interruptions to your AC/DC supply: www.expertsexchange.com
12. Looking for an actor and want to get in touch with his or her agent? Then Who Represents is a database of contact names and numbers. But the site owners may well become brassed off by some of the unsavoury clients it attracts: www.whorepresents.com
13. The official site for Barnet Copthall Masters Swimming Club says it has a 12A rating to warn off young kids. It has all the club?s latest news. So why not a section on how to improve your breaststroke? www.upthebeavers.com
14. A building firm based in Ontario, Canada, promises: "No job too small, or too tall." They have even helpfully included some handy pictures showing exactly how they manage to get it up: www.mammotherection.com
15. Then of course, there's the Italian Power Generator company... www.powergenitalia.com
16. And then there's these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com
Last tune-up racePosted by Arcane
Did 4 miles with 6 strides today @ recovery pace. Pfitz has a 8-10k tune-up race scheduled for tomorrow. Lucky for me there is a 10k race about a 40 minute drive from me which I'm going to do. I'm quite curious about how well I'll do since during my half-marathon a month ago, my average pace was higher than that which I ran in my previous 10k PR. I'm hoping to average a pace for tomorrow's 10k that is faster than my 5k PR which I set back in June at 21:30 (6:55 min/mile) which means I'm hoping to finish in under 43 minutes. Weather is going to be cool and very little wind is expected which is great. I'm just worried that the course is going to be hilly.
Breaking in the new shoesPosted by Arcane on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 at 10:37 PM
Did 8 miles including 5x600m at 5k pace. Got up in the morning and was out the door while it was still dark. Did a 3 mile warmup on the way to the track. On the way there it started raining a bit and by the time I got to the track flashes of lightning and the crack of thunder were all around me. I decided to do the intervals anyways. I figured that the two goal posts on the infield and the towers in a nearby hydro field would be struck by lightning before my little 5'9" frame would. Even so I was a little nervous about it. I ended up trying to keep track of how long it would take between the flashes of lightning and the accompanying sound of thunder. I think the closest it got was about 8 seconds which means that the lighning struck about 1.5 miles away.. Intervals were:
Had a 5 mile recovery run scheduled today. Today was the day that I wanted to start using my marathon day shoes. I got up in the morning and heard the unmistakeable sound of rain outside. Not wanting to get my brand spanking new shoes wet on their first run, I ended up moving the run to the evening. I did however hold off on the run until after I saw the first 5 minutes of the season premiere of Lost since there's a lot of buzz on how the first 5 minutes is supposed to blow your mind. It didn't blow my mind, but it sure was intriguing. I'm off now to watch the remainder of the show.
18 days and counting...
And so the countdown begins!Posted by Arcane on Sunday, October 1, 2006 at 10:18 PM
Did 4 mile recovery run. Uneventful.
Did 21 miles today!
These were garmin splits which I manually recorded on my HR monitor. I felt kinda silly wearing both the garmin and another watch to monitor my HR. I don't think anyone noticed. It was a great day for a run. Weather was nice and cool. Miles 3, 4 and 5 seemed a bit screwy but that was most likely due to loss of satellite signals. I speeded up for the last mile just to see if I could handle it. Overall pace was at about 8:30.
Though the taper has supposedly officially begun, Pfitz's plan still has a few interesting wrinkles yet to come. He still has a 16 mile long run scheduled for next week the day after a 8-10k tune-up race and a 12 mile run one week prior to the marathon. That doesn't sound like a taper schedule to me! His plan has got me this far with some very encouraging results, so I suppose at this point there's no point in deviating from the plan. I'm "all in" as they say in poker.
21 days and counting...
Training Update. Sept 25- Sept 29Posted by Arcane on Saturday, September 30, 2006 at 8:03 AM
The cool temperatures are here. I'm waiting for the temperature to warm up before I head out on my 4 mile recovery run this morning. Here's an update for the week.
Did 5 mile recovery run with 6 strides.
Did a little over 10 miles with 4x1200m @ 5k pace. Split times were:
I ran into some HR strap problems at the beginning, but by the time I got to the track, it had sorted itself out. I can honestly say that these VO2Max things seem to be getting easier. Now it could just be that the Yasso 800's that I did on the weekend made this interval workout feel puny by comparison, but I like to think it's because my fitness is improving. I'm looking forward to the 1600m interval workout in two weeks.
Did 10 miles at about 8:30 pace. I tried the garmin today for the second time and it seemed to be off in measuring distance. I usually run the first few miles of my "around the house" route along the same path where I know where the 1 and 2 mile markers are. The garmin has been right on with the distance the last time I used it, but today I ran past the mark and then an additional 30 seconds before the autolap function was triggered. I thought it may be that my HR monitor was interfering with the satelite reception since this was the first time I ran with both. Going to try it again today to see if I have the same problem. It was quite cool during the run at about 8C. By the time I got back home, my fingernails were a nice shade of blue.
4 mile recovery today and then 20+ miles tomorrow and then taper time! I wish all you Chicago hopefuls good luck on your 20 milers this weekend. Enjoy it cause you won't be running that distance again until October 22!
Scotiabank Marathon pictures.Posted by Arcane on Sunday, September 24, 2006 at 10:47 PM
I camped myself out on a bridge and took some pictures at the Scotiabank marathon.
Elites racing!
Ed Whitlock. 75 year old marathoner who did 3:08:34.5
Blogland's very own Joggler Perry!


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AFTER the success of Kiwi House during the 2012 London Olympics, it is returning for another major sporting event and Kiwi Christmas celebration.
Kiwi House will be up and running for the All Blacks' match with England on December 1, and the New Zealand Times has a double pass to give away for the event.
Big screens will be on from midday, and the festivities will continue into the evening with music from Melic, along with New Zealand food and drink.
It is in a new location at The Artillery Gardens, near Moorgate, Old Street and Liverpool St stations.
Day tickets, evening tickets or all day tickets are available here.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's usually hot and humid in Malaysia, being situated just above the equator. Temperatures usually stay between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius throughout the year, with the sun shining down on the country, sometimes too strongly. Good thing there is high elevations in Malaysia with cool climate where you can go for some respite for this tropical weather. One such destination is Cameron Highlands, located just four to five hours by land from Kuala Lumpur.
Because the weather here is chilly, a trip to Cameron Highlands will not be complete without trying some Chinese steamboat. With the low temperature, it is comforting to sip some hot Chinese broth, where you can cook all sorts of things like noodles, meat and vegetables. There are a lot of steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands you can choose from to get your fix of this popular dish.
Steamboat Restaurants in Cameron Highlands
Here are some of the most popular steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands, with some details on the ambiance, the items on their menu and the prices for these food items.
1. Gonbei Steamboat Restaurant
Among the most well-known steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands is Gonbei. Visitors frequent this restaurant because of its ambiance, its quality service, and its wide array of fresh ingredients. This restaurant is open-walled, so you still get to feel the cool breeze and see the lush green trees in Cameron Highlands while sipping your hot steamboat soup. It gives you two options for the broth: Japanese vegetarian or Tom Kha Gai, which is composed of coconut milk, lemon grass, chili and chicken.
Gonbei Restaurant also gives guest a choice for proteins: meat (75 Malaysian Ringgit per person), seafood or mixed (100 Malaysian Ringgit per person). Vegetables such as carrots, celery, cabbage and lettuce are arranged in the restaurant buffet-style, giving you free options on which one to include in your soup. Noodles are presented in this manner as well. As a bonus, desserts are also provided to guests, including Cameron Highlands' famous succulent strawberries.
Because of the popularity of this steamboat restaurant in Cameron Highlands, guests are advised to reserve tables first before going to the place.
Address: Cameron Highland, 39000 Brinchang, Pahang, Malaysia
Phone: +60 5-491 1100
2. May Flower Restaurant
This is also among the more popular steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands, primarily due to its affordability and the rich flavors of its food. For only 10 to 14 Malaysian Ringgit, you can already get a generous plate of good-tasting Asian food like fish curry, sambal petai and stir-fried prawns. Of course, the star of this restaurant remains to be its steamboat, which has two varieties of broth: Tom Yam or chicken broth. There are 21 items you can choose to include in your steamboat soup such as corn, mussels, crabsticks, clams, prawns and meat—all guaranteed fresh and flavorful. The ambiance in this steamboat restaurant in Cameron Highlands is more laidback, with simple plastic chairs and tables for customers.
Address: 22, Main Road, Tanah Rata, 39000, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia
Phone: +60 5-491 1793
3. Cameron Organic Produce Steamboat Restaurant
This is one of the first steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands. Being among the pioneers of this cuisine, Cameron Organic Produce Steamboat Restaurant sticks to the traditional way of cooking steamboat: over charcoal. Its popularity is also derived from the fact that it serves fresh vegetables for the steamboat, harvested straight from the organic farm maintained by the restaurant. Guests are given a choice between vegetarian or chicken soup, which costs 20 Malaysian Ringgit per person.
Because this is also another popular steamboat restaurant in Cameron Highlands, reservations should be made before going, as the place tends to be packed during peak hours, especially dinner time.
Address: 10, Bandar Baru Brinchang, 39100, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia
Phone: +60 5-491 4807
4. Mountain House Charcoal Steamboat Restaurant
This steamboat restaurant in Cameron Highlands is preferred by some customers over others in the area because of its quality service and affordability. For the price of 30 Malaysian Ringgit, two people can already feast on warm and delicious steamboat and have some drinks. The owner of this restaurant is very hands-on, ensuring that customers get their orders quick. The restaurant also offers two kinds of broth: normal and tom yum. You can also add other ingredients to your soup like eggs, vegetables, mushrooms, prawns, tofu and meatballs to make it more delicious.
Address: Cameron Highlands No.8, Jalan Besar, Brinchang, Malaysia
Phone: +60 12-555 9788
5. You Hoo Restaurant
If you are looking for quality seafood, this is the steamboat restaurant in Cameron Highlands that you should visit. The tom yum steamboat soup is said to be a must-try. Add prawns, clams and some squid to your soup to give it a fresh taste of the sea. Service is also good, with the owner making sure that customers get their food quickly. Other seafood dishes offered by the restaurant are also worth trying.
Now that you know the best steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands, you can now enjoy some good soup when you visit this destination. You just have to pick the ingredients and flavors to your liking.


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How To Find International Work At Home Jobs
Links & ads you may click on this blog pay the bills & keep this site free for you. Thanks for supporting!
On Work At Home Careers I receive a surprisingly large number of emails from people outside the United States in search of work at home. Because I saw that this need was being under-served, I ended up creating a small international work at home section. I'll be the first to admit it's a bit limited. But after some accidental research I discovered how international work from home seekers can locate even more jobs. But we need to discuss the inherit difficulty of providing international work at home jobs from a U.S employer's point of view.
So Why Is it So Hard To Find Work At Home Jobs Outside the U.S.?
There are several reasons. I'll be the first to admit they are not the most fair explanations but nonetheless it is a reality that must be addressed. Hopefully having this information will provide you an advantage by addressing these concerns when approaching a prospective traditional U.S. based work at home employer. So let's go into the reasons.
1. Apparently it's hard to manage paying international work at home seekers because of given restrictions or limitations of certain countries banking structures. No employer wants to jump through hoops to pay you when they can easily paypal or mail a U.S. employee a check.
2. There is a lot of fraud that originates from countries outside of the U.S. This shouldn't be taken as a personal attack on your integrity because there is a lot of fraud here in the U.S. as well but it seems like it's just harder to prosecute in certain countries. So employers don't want to take that added risk especially when they have other options.
3. Finally, one of the biggest reasons is the language barrier. Although our fellow international work at home seekers are just as capable as U.S. workers, their English isn't always necessarily up to par and this can cause delays in terms of getting work done or just pose an on the job issue.(i.e. Customer service calls.) In my experience these have been the sticking point for U.S. based work at home employers. Is it fair? Not necessarily in all cases but again, it's the reality your facing. But enough of all the negative talk, let's get into what you can do to combat this stuff.
So How Do I Find An International Work At Home Job Online?
Well in my experience the best way to do this is to use freelance job websites. A freelance website is similar to an ebay for jobs. People that need projects done such as data entry, typing, customer service, programming, design, etc visit a freelance site and post their project description, the requirements and how much they're willing to pay. Then registered freelancers are able to see this project and bid on how much they will do the project for and the time it would take them to complete it. Freelance websites project owners tend to be more inclined to work with international work at home seekers. The freelance websites also have payment processes in place to ensure that no one gets screwed. (For the most part)
Conclusion So my suggestion to international work at home seekers is visit freelance job sites. You'll tend to have a greater advantage there because you may be able to afford to do work at lower prices because your cost of living maybe cheaper than it is here in the states. As a result, this makes you more attractive than U.S. based workers. Sorry guys, but we have enough work at home opportunities geared towards U.S. workers, international workers need to eat too. Below are some freelance job websites you should visit:
Additional Non Freelance Job Sites
- Freelancermap
Location: Germany
- Freelance INDIA.com
Location: India
Job types: all
- Bumeran.com
Location: South America
- Laborum.com
Location: Latin America
- Trabajo Freelance
Location: South America
- Joobs
Location: Romania
- Pinoy Jobs
Location: Philippines
- Motamot
Location: France
- Okeli
Location: Sweden
- Projekurdu
Location: Turkey
- Circa Lavoro.it
Location: Italy
International Work At Home Companies
- Atomic Arts – Freelance 3D Animation/Visual Effects – (Worldwide)
- Way With Words – Transcribers/Typists (Worldwide: Europe, Asia, Canada, Africa)
- Cipherion Translations – Translation, Engineering, Multimedia, Sound Recording, QA & DTP (Worldwide)
- VOBA – Freelance Transcription (UK)
- Wise Translations – Freelance Translators (Multiple Countries)
- Saral Software Solutions – Medical Transcription & Editors
- Acusis – Medical Transcription (India)
- Digitype – Transcription/Legal Coding (Australia)
- Hispanic-Jobs – Advertising/Sales Reps (Latino, Spanish, Asian, Bilingual)
- Network Omni – Freelance Translation/Publishing/Engineering (Worldwide)
- MultiLingual Solutions – Freelance Translation/Interpretation/Linguistics (Nationwide & Global)
- Language Lines – Bilingual Interpreters (Worldwide) US, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, & UK
- Orion Transcription – Medical, Legal, & General/Business (Canada & US)
- EduXcel – Virtual Tutors/Educators (grades 6-12th) (Canada, UK, India, US)
- G3 Translate – Freelance Translators, Editors, Interpreters, Proofreaders, Desktop Publishing Specialists (Worldwide)
- Retail Active – Mystery Shopping (UK)
Hope this helps.


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IIT-Kharagpur Director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti on Thursday expressed grief at the "senseless loss of life" following the killer of University of California.
IIT-Kharagpur Director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti on Thursday expressed grief at the "senseless loss of life" following the killer of University of California-Los Angeles professor being identified as Indian doctoral student and institute alumnus Mainak Sarkar.
"We are extremely sad at this senseless loss of life and our hearts go out to the families who lost their loved ones," Chakrabarti said when asked about the development.
Sarkar, 38, who was born in India before going to the US for higher study, shot dead engineering professor William Klug, 39, in his office on the university campus before turning the gun on himself, the Daily Mail quoted the Los Angeles Police Department as saying.
He appeared to have had a long-running feud with Klug.
As per reports, Sarkar graduated from the IIT-Kgp with a degree in aerospace engineering.
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Open/Closed: week of June 15-21, 2017
The flurry of restaurants continues with 13 new spots this week.
Here's the very latest:
Tuck into doner sandwiches and dinners at Babas Doner House (1120 Queen St. W.) on West Queen West.
Canary & Fox Micro Market (778 Annette St.) is now open, so get your ice pops, gelato, drinks, and starting this Saturday, fresh baked Lina's Lucifero Loaves and granola.
East York has a new local: Frog And The Crown Grill & Bar (1871 O'Connor Dr.) at Vic Park and O'Connor. Menu items include Coconut Shrimp ($11.95), Philly Steak Melt ($14.95) and Chicken & Ribs ($28.95)
After launching in the Junction just a few weeks ago, Hooked is expanding yet again, this time to the east side (1246 Danforth Ave.). Grand opening is tomorrow.
Jerk Paradise (296-A Gerrard St. E.) is the newest Caribbean restaurant to open.
Lit Espresso Bar (2196 Bloor St. W.) opened yesterday at Bloor and Runnymede. But before you groan, "Great, just another coffee shop," know that this location comes complete with Neapolitan pizza, and soon to follow: booze! Will other coffee shops follow suit?
Speaking of pizza, Pi Co. (2177 Yonge St.) newest eatery opens at Yonge & Eg today.
Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery & Distillery (1219 Niagara Stone Rd.) is now open in Niagara-on-the-Lake. "The Great One" doesn't just do wine either – he just released Wayne Gretzky No 99 'Red Cask' Canadian Whisky.
From Chicken Matzo Ball Soup ($5.95) and Gefilte Fish ($8.95) to Challah Grilled Cheese ($11.95) and Liver & Onions ($14.95), Zelden's Deli and Desserts (1446 Yonge St.) satiates all your deli cravings.
'Playa Bacardi': Pop-up Island Rum is a one-day only affair. On Monday June 19, Barrio Cervercia (884 Queen St. E.) will be home to rum cocktails, steel drums, Latin dancers, and much more. Tickets are available at playabacardi.com.
For one day only, Chase Hospitality Group's Planta Burger Bar is taking over Little Fin (4 Temperance St.). This pop-up includes the unveiling of two new Planta burgers, with 100% of net proceeds donated to SickKids. The festivities start at 11 am and will run until they sell out.
From Friday, June 16 to Tuesday, June 27, you'll be able to shop IKEA items and nosh on Swedish fare at the The IKEA Play Café (336 Queen St. W.) pop-up.
There's a new market launching this week. Yonge + St. Clair Midtown Market takes place behind 40 St. Clair Ave. W. (next to the Delisle – St. Clair Parkette) starting this Tuesday, June 20, 11 am to 7 pm (Dates to follow: July 18, August 15 and September 19). The market will include local produce, flowers, freshly baked goods, artisan cheeses, preserves and crafts, along with an array of food cooked fresh on site. Food vendors include Thai Style Ice Cream Rolls, Holy Cannoli, Living Chocolate, Cheese Boutique and Queen Arepa.
Chef Anthony Rose has said goodbye and farewell to Rose and Sons Queen Street (892 Queen St. W.). But he's got more spots in the works, so stay tuned.
Left Bank Grill & Wine Bar (2015 Avenue Rd.) has shuttered.
Friday's five-alarm fire caused a reported $2M in damages at Ryus Noodle Bar (33 Baldwin St). Neighbouring restaurants Platito Filipino Soul Food (35 Baldwin St.) and Kon-nichi-wa (31 Baldwin St.) have closed temporarily as well.
Sam Panopoulos, the Canadian inventor of Hawaiian pizza, has died. He was 82 years old.
Check out the latest update on the hookah ban.
Thanks to the upcoming North by Northeast Music Festival and Conference you can now drink 'til 4 am from June 16 to June 25, 2017 at the following bars, pubs and restos: The Baby G, Bovine Club, Cameron House, Cherry Cola's Rock and Roll, Comedy Bar, Drake Hotel, The Garrison, Grace O'Malley's Irish Pub, Hard Luck Bar, Horseshoe Tavern, Monarch Tavern, Nest, Nocturne, The Paddock, The Painted Lady, Rancho Relaxo, and Sneaky Dee's Downtown.
Hear of a place that's about to open or just closed? Have an upcoming food or restaurant event? Let me know.


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The IRS has issued an amendment to the 401(k) regulations which significantly expand how safe harbor 401(k) plans can operate. Under the new regulations, employers may stop the 3% non-elective safe harbor contribution to a 401(k) plan mid-year, if either (1) the employer is "operating at a loss" for the plan year; or (2) the employer has advised employees as part of the annual safe harbor that it might not make the contribution ("maybe not notice"). This option to cease safe harbor contributions is new and can be used for the 2014 plan year. Previously, an employer had to be suffering a "substantial business hardship" before the IRS permitted employers to stop the 3% contributions.
Also under these new rules, the IRS gives the same ability to stop the safe harbor matching contribution to employees starting in 2015 if either the employer is operating at a loss or a "maybe not notice" is given. In order to effect the cessation the employer must:
- Provide a 30-day advance notice advising participants of the cessation;
- Amend the plan to provide for the cessation;
- Make the safe harbor contribution based on compensation paid for the period of the plan year during which the safe harbor was in effect (i.e., from the beginning of the year through the 30-day period or, if later, the date on which the amendment to remove the safe harbor is adopted);
- Pass ADP/ACP testing for the entire year; and
- Give participants an opportunity before the cessation is effective to change their deferral rate.
Because including what might be called a "maybe not" notice is new and most existing safe harbor notices do not have such language, employers may wish to consider including it in their 2014 safe harbor notices to provide flexibility.


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This summer heat has got me wanting to wear more color!
The summertime calls for more feminine and flowy pieces. I rarely wear color, but I'm really digging the dusty mauve shade. This Bare Anthology top is feminine but still has a little edge to it. The sleeves create a nice silhouette to elongate the arms, and I just love how it flows to every movement. I paired it with my favorite short-shorts to balance the proportions. Shop something similar below!


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This was my word of the week.
It's funny, because I don't think of the verb when I see this word – I go straight to the noun. To me, the bird, as they say, is the word. But of course, as my friendly Googly word of the day dictionary tells me, the verb sense was first attested in the early 1800s, as young roister-doisters and Pinks of the Ton decided a bit of a frolicsome skite might be considered not altogether too shabby in breaking the tedium of one's day, doncherknow. In between getting one's neckcloth exactly so, parading up and down Bond Street, going to one's club, or heading off to Jackson's to watch the Corinthians pummel each other in a gentlemanly fashion, naturally.
Honestly. It's as though Bertie Wooster decided he felt like having a jab at the Oxford English Dictionary, saw a bird flying past, thought it looked as though it was having a bit of a good time, and with tongue firmly gripped in corner of mouth, painstakingly wrote one definition out, then popped off for a spot of lunch and a nap before beating back the Marriage Prospects with a stick at Almacks, leaving poor Jeeves to sort the rest of the bloody thing out.
As usual.
The noun of skylark, meanwhile, has been lurking around the nation of shopkeepers since Oliver Cromwell decided 'roundhead' was an inspiring name for blokes who didn't think much of long curly wigs and lots of lace, and decided to show jolly old England what could only be called his own version of skylarking.
The bird in question is in fact a "a brown-speckled European lark, Alauda arvensis, famed for its melodious song". Arvensis means "of the field", and Pliny, a.k.a. Pliny the Elder, or Gaius Plinius Secundus, the Robin to Emperor Vespasian's Batman, believed the word Alauda (Latin for lark) was in actuality of Celtic origins.
As he was a complete clever clogs, I see no reason to disbelieve him.
Pliny the Elder died on an infamous date – August 25, AD 79; and he died doing an act of goodness and bravery – unsurprising, from the sidekick of an Emperor known for doing more than simply fiddle-arsing about whilst Rome burned (yes, I'm talking to you, Nero). He was attempting to rescue, by ship, a friend and his family after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius had decimated Pompeii.
It is believed all souls aboard perished in the attempt.
I am a big fan of Tacitus, for several odd reasons, and Tacitus is a big fan of Pliny the Elder's. So Pliny the Elder is alright with me. Plus, he wasn't too much of a Senatorial snob to dismiss the Celts as ignorant peasants – another point in his favour. Thirdly, he wrote an enormous work of natural history, Naturalis Historia, which became the model by which all encyclopædia were designed and measured.
Fourthly… Pliny said something rather wonderful.
Pliny the Elder said this:
There is no book so bad that some good can not be got out of it.
Many people would think having an incurable disease would be so bad that no good could be got out of it. Many people have felt it is not only appropriate, but almost their civic duty, to say this to me, over the fifteen (fifteen! How time flies when you're not having fun) years since I first started exhibiting symptoms of Young Onset Parkinson's. I was 29 when it made its stage debut; I am now 44, so I believe this arithmetic is correct. I am only thinking out loud about it at this precise moment, because in writing these extremely naked words, it is the first instance in a long, long, time I have actually stopped to realise just how many years I've been lugging this bloody thing around for.
I wonder what Pliny would have made of Parkinson's?
Probably a paper hat, or possibly a tent.
Maybe even a boat.
I wonder, if it had happened to him, how he would have dealt with it.
I wonder, if he had woken up one morning with half his face dropping off down the side of his neck, if he would have panicked. If when his legs wouldn't stop moving around, whether he would have given them a sternly stoic talking to, and thumped off to defeat the Visigoths, or whoever was hellbent on taking out Rome that week. If Pliny would have panicked when his body decided it didn't feel like moving for an hour or so, but instead decided to just stand there, while his brain screamed at it, or when someone inevitably accused him of being a cold-faced bitch, because concentrating on more than one person at a time and maintaining facial expression is hard, whether he would have just bopped them with his sword, and uttered some pithy Latin epithet, the equivalent of 'sod you, Jack'?
I think he would. Because Gaius Plinius Secundus, all round Roman rockstar, knew that every cloud has a silver lining. He knew every book has a little bit of excitement and knowledge in it, even if the excitement is that the damn boring thing is finally finished.
Some days, I do not think much good can be got out of this god-awful disease. Some days, it's hard as hell. Especially those days when one finds out there is another steaming pile of manure on top of the disease dung-heap.
But on others, I understand, like Pliny, in all my naked clarity, just what it has given me. How much tenderness it has granted. How much grace. How many people of goodness, and love and hope, whose physical pain and soul-twists are far harder to bear than my own light load, it has given me the gift of knowing.
How many skylarks it has brought into my purview, skiting, chaffing, and seeing the good in the worst of the world book.
Even if sometimes the only way I can envision them is as a photograph of an iron bird, suspended from a branch in my own backyard, from my bed.
That doesn't mean they, and I, don't fly.


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Good afternoon, and thank you (Tom Dugan and Tom Jarbin )for your kind invitation and warm hospitality. I am always happy to be here in New Jersey with my friends and colleagues in the motorcoach industry.
Restoring Public ConfidenceFor those of you who are not that familiar with the Board, let me briefly describe what we are all about. We are an independent agency charged with investigating transportation accidents. I'm sure all of you are familiar with the Board's role in aviation where we are famous for recovering the "black box", painstakingly sifting through the wreckage, and ultimately determining the cause of major aviation tragedies. We of course do the same work and apply many of the same techniques in rail, marine, pipeline, and highway accidents. However, seldom do these surface modes garner the public's interest as much as aviation accidents. Then again, the Big Dig tunnel collapse in Boston in 2006 and the bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007 have come very close.
So when tragedies occur they attract a huge amount of media attention, and as a result, the potential exists for the public to lose confidence in our transportation systems. A perceived lack of public confidence can mean that fewer people are willing to fly or perhaps ride motorcoaches. Therefore, our job is to restore the confidence of the traveling public, after major transportation disasters, by conducting unbiased, independent, and transparent investigations to determine the cause of accidents and find solutions to prevent them from happening again.
Since we last got together the Safety Board has completed 4 motorcoach investigations. Three of which we talked about last year and one which may be new to you. Without bragging, I'd say this is pretty impressive, given the fact that we also completed the Minneapolis Bridge investigation last November. Anyway, here is how those accident investigations turned out.
Atlanta, GA You'll recall the Atlanta, GA investigation involved a baseball team traveling from Bluffton University in Ohio in which the motorcoach mistakenly took a left HOV exit ramp and fell 30 feet to the highway below. Seven occupants were killed, 28 were injured, including 12 ejections. In July of last year, the Board's report found that the cause of the accident was poor HOV signage, but the severity of the accident and loss of life and injury was due to lack of an adequate occupant protection system. I'll speak more on this issue later. As a side bar, we don't always get confirmation that we have made the right call because it is hard to measure accidents that don't happen. But since this accident, two motorcoaches have mistakenly taken this left exit ramp and narrowly avoided another tragedy. Atlanta is now scrambling to get new signs up. But unfortunately on the other issue of occupant protection, very little has been done.
Osseo, WI In September the Safety Board completed its investigation of an accident involving a tractor-trailer and a motorcoach carrying a high school marching band that occurred in the early morning hours on Interstate 94 near Osseo, Wisconsin. The fatigued tractor-trailer driver fell asleep, lost control of his vehicle, and overturned blocking both lanes of the highway. The underside of the tractor-trailer was facing oncoming traffic and since it was dark, the motorcoach driver couldn't see it until it was too late to avoid the collision, killing the bus driver and 4 passengers and injuring 26. The Board made recommendations to FMCSA to develop and implement a plan to deploy technologies that can reduce fatigue-related accidents and assess the effectiveness of fatigue management plans. The Board went further to recommend that commercial vehicles be equipped with collision warning systems with active braking and electronic stability control systems.
Turrell, Arkansas Packaged together with the Osseo investigation was another fatigue-related accident that occurred near Turrell, Arkansas. This time the rollover involved a motorcoach transporting 29 senior citizens to a casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The fatigued driver inadvertently took an exit ramp at 70 mph and overturned. The roof of the vehicle separated from the body, allowing all 30 occupants to be ejected. The bus had no passenger lap/shoulder belts, and the driver was not wearing his belt. Fourteen passengers and the driver were killed.
Mexican Hat, UTIn April of this year the Board completed its investigation of a motorcoach rollover accident that occurred near Mexican Hat, UT. The accident bus with 52 passengers was part of a 17-motorcoach charter returning from a three-day ski trip. The normal route from Telluride, CO to Phoenix was closed due to snow, and the motorcoaches diverted to an alternate route through Utah.
Again, the Board found that the driver was fatigued which resulted in the motorcoach leaving the roadway at 88 mph. The motorcoach overturned, and the entire roof of the motorcoach separated from the body. Fifty of the 52 passengers were ejected. As a result, 9 passengers were killed 43 passengers and the driver received injuries. The Board found that the cause of the accident was fatigue, but again the severity of the accident was attributed to the motorcoach's lack of an adequate occupant protection system.
If you are keeping count, that's 35 fatalities and 92 ejections in only 4 accidents. Most of them were students or senior citizens. We also have 2 ongoing investigations in Victoria, TX and Sherman, TX where a total of 13 people died which I can brief you on later if we have time.
Since 1998 the Board has investigated 33 motorcoach frontal and rollover accidents. In these accidents, there were 255 full or partial ejections and 123 fatalities. These crashes clearly demonstrated that passengers who are thrown from their seating compartments or ejected are the most likely to be injured or killed. These numbers are not perception, they are reality. And this reality paints a bad picture of the motorcoach industry. Right now the public perceives motorcoach travel as safe, but this perception could change. A year and a half ago the public's perception of highway bridges was safe. Nobody thought twice about driving over a bridge. But after the collapse of the Minneapolis Bridge, folks began to have doubts, and highway officials across the country were being asked if their bridges were safe. Since we last met, the Safety Board has testified twice before congressional committees concerned with motorcoach safety and several bills have been introduced. I'm not sure if perceptions are changing, but there appears to be increased concern.
Motorcoach Passenger ProtectionI'm sure you are doing everything that you can to prevent an accident from occurring, but let's face it, accidents are going to happen. So what can you do to mitigate some of the injuries and fatalities and avoid turning an unhappy incident into a national tragedy?
The short answer is occupant protection for your passengers. When the Safety Board investigates an accident we examine not only the cause of the accident, but also determine the cause of the injuries or fatalities. As a result, we make recommendations to mitigate or eliminate those causes. One of the biggest causes of injuries and fatalities in motorcoach accidents occurs when passengers are thrown from their seating compartment, especially if they are ejected from the vehicle.
The Safety Board has been making recommendations to NHTSA on motorcoach occupant protection since 1968. In 1999, the Safety Board published a special investigation report on Bus Crashworthiness Issues where we asked NHTSA to take a systems approach to requiring better occupant protection for motorcoach passengers. We still want them to do that, but let's face it, it has been 10 years and we still have no requirements. As a result, the Board continues to see many of the same occupant protection problems in accident after accident.
NHTSA is making some recent progress. In December 2007, NHTSA performed a frontal motorcoach crash test and in February 2008, they performed two tests on motorcoach roof strength and occupant survivable space through the MGA Research Corporation, under contract to NHTSA, both of which were observed by Safety Board staff. In addition, a week after the Board's issuance of the Mexican Hat report, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that he has ordered a full review of motorcoach safety and will create a Departmental Motorcoach Safety Action Plan which he is directing be completed in August of this year.
So what can you do today? In your next motorcoach purchase you can do something that Australia has required since 1994. It's something that the European Union has required since 1997. It's something the state of Texas will require on all motorcoaches chartered for school trips beginning in 2011. It's something that Greyhound recently announced will be on its newest fleet of motorcoaches, and its something many of your competitors will soon have. ….. It is lap/shoulder belts.
Lap/shoulder belts are not the total solution and the Board still maintains its stance that a systems approach to motorcoach occupant protection is needed to ensure that other components such as motorcoach roofs and window glazing are strong enough. But this is an action that you can take right now, and you might just find that it makes good business sense.
Let's look at who really cares about safety. For years the auto manufactures argued that safety doesn't sell. Now of course they all clamor for those five star crash ratings. Do you think you could possibly sell a minivan in this country without a five star crash rating?
So when you are marketing your services to potential customers, I bet there is not one of you in this room that doesn't emphasize the safety of your fleet. You, like me are in the safety business and your survival in many ways depends on the safety record of your business. What you might find is that lap/shoulder belts may give you a competitive advantage when marketing your services because if you have lap/shoulder belts and your competitors don't, then you have something to bargain with other than just price.
Let me ask: How many of you have school age children? Ok, I can see that this is a, (how can say), "more experienced crowd". Now, how many of you have school age "grandchildren"? It's pretty special isn't it?
Ok, if you were the local school official and you were contracting for a motorcoach trip and you had a choice between one company that offered lap/shoulder belts and one without. Which one would you choose? Before you answer, I can tell you that school officials may be perceived as cheap but they are anything but risk takers, especially when it comes to kid's safety. They will go with the safe decision every time, even if the cost is a little more. They know that you as a parent (or a grandparent) will hold them accountable for their decisions.
Perception vs Reality Let's talk a little about perception vs reality.
As you know, the reality of commercial aviation travel is that it is one of the safest modes of transportation. Yet many people irrationally perceive it as being unsafe and refuse to fly. For example we are all aware of football announcer John Madden's legendary fear of flying and of course his $800,000 MCI E4500 45-foot custom shell motorcoach called the "Madden Cruiser". But just this month, Tony Kornheiser left Monday Night Football because of his fear of flying. These are smart folks, but for some reason there is a disconnect between perception and reality.
Similarly, you and I, of course, know that motorcoach travel is also one of the safest modes of transportation, but when accidents and fatalities do occur, the public's perception of the safety of motorcoach travel can be badly damaged, and once they perceive something as being unsafe it is very hard to change their minds. Perhaps the reason that people's perceptions get blown out of proportion is that motorcoach accidents are almost always news-worthy, often on a national level. They are news-worthy because they often involve multiple fatalities and injuries, but in addition, if the accident involves students or senior citizens, there is an emotional element to the story because these passengers are perceived as a vulnerable segment of the population. Now you know the demographics of your customers better than I, but I suspect these groups make up a large percentage of your customer base. So every day you are taking the risk of having the image of your company and the image of the motorcoach industry tarnished by a major motorcoach accident.
Let me close with the most telling and most disturbing quote in the local papers after the motorcoach accident in Atlanta where seven Bluffton University students died. It came from the father of one of the students who died. He was referring to a picture of the interior of the motorcoach and he said, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Look at that seat, it is in perfect condition. Why did the seat survive and my son died?" That student was of course ejected from the motorcoach. But quite frankly, I am tired of answering that question from parents and I can assure you that you don't want to answer that question either.
When tragic accidents occur it is the Safety Board's job to determine the cause and make recommendations to prevent them from happening again. But we are not alone in our desire to prevent accidents. You and I are partners in this cause. So when accidents occur, my recommendation to you, is to view them as an opportunity to do something different; find a maintenance improvement, implement a new operational policy, provide better training, buy a new motorcoach with the latest safety technology, etc. etc. but take action and do something different. Each step you take will bring you closer to an accident-free environment and your actions will reassure the public that you are serious about safety and that you continue to want their business. We owe it to our passengers, our employees, our families, our industry, and our community.
Thank you.


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Nadine Markgraaff - Ray White
City Apartments
Nadine started her property career in South Africa in 1980 and is now qualified as a New Zealand Licensee Salesperson. Nadine co-founded a Real Estate company known as Sherlock Homes with her husband Norman in 1984 and she created and implemented all the business systems and controls required to take Real Estate into the technological age. Nadine was approached by ERA (an American real estate franchise company) to become their Business Development Manager and served in this position as one of their internationally appointed property trainers. Nadine is an accomplished property and life skills trainer, motivating and empowering attendees to handle the hurdles of life with a positive pro-active attitude and approach. Nadine was appointed shareholder and managing director of Eagle Canyon Golf estate, a massive housing project of over 1300 homes in one of Johannesburg South Africa's most prestigious estates. Nadine and her family immigrated to New Zealand in 2011 Nadine's tenacity, creativity and flair for marketing have resulted in some stunning results for her clients. Her work ethic, commitment to her clients, her all-consuming love of the job and impeccable attention develop the high standard of trust and respect necessary to deliver exceptional client service. "When you love what you do your clients will love the results."