Called to Action by Kristin Armstrong

Every now and then, an article jumped out at me and tugged at my heartstrings. This article "Called to Action" by one my favorite writer Kristin Armstrong is one.

There is an underlying purpose and meaning behind my training, always. It isn't about the next race or the next workout. It's about fitness and fortitude for the next test around the corner that I cannot see. Everyone will face a challenging experience, whether we want to acknowledge its inevitability or not—the doctor calls to say he needs to discuss the test results in person, or a police officer has news at the front door, or you find a lump in your breast, or you lose your job, or your child is diagnosed with something, or your spouse walks out the door. When my next moment comes, I want to be strong and centered enough to handle it with some measure of grace. But perhaps even more importantly, I want to be fast enough to be first on the scene when a loved one needs me, and I want to be fit enough to help carry their load for as long as it takes to reach the other side.

Read more.

Fortitude. Such an obscure word these days. But fortitude is one of the four cardinal virtues since the time of Plato (the others being prudence, justice and temperance). Fortitude is the virtue that allows us to overcome fear and to remain steady in our will in the face of obstacles. Fortitude is the word to describe the early Christians willing to give their lives rather than to renounce their faith. Fortitude is what enables our migrant forefathers to cope with poverty and losses. They persevered with courage and determination.

Running fosters fortitude. Fortitude to break the one minute mile, to go sub-3 (or sub-5 in my case), to head out with our sneakers regardless of fatigue or mood. And of course, fortitude for the next test round the corner, whatever that may be.

Run for a cause: Angels run4COSI

We all run for various reasons - fitness, fun, self gratification and achievement, etc. I am convinced that there is one perhaps more important reason - to run for a cause.

To this end, I will be participating in the Angels run4COSI intiative.

The children of COSI have always held a special place in my heart and the hearts of many of my friends. Each COSI kid has a story to tell, and it is usually a sad and tragic story. We have seen them grown, from toddlers to teenagers. Through the years, we have journeyed with them, sharing their joys, achievements and concerns, supporting them with our prayers and showering them with our love.

For some of the older kids, the time of reckoning has come. Each child can only stay with the orphanage until the age of 18 (or grade 12). This is a growing source of anxiety for many.

The following video underscores their predicament.


Pentecost Methodist Church, together with Bedok Methodist Church and MMS, initiated the Post COSI Integration Program to prepare COSI graduates for reentry into their community of origin and society outside of COSI.

The main objective for the PCOSIIP is to empower every COSI graduate to become useful citizen in the Kingdom of God as well as in the Kingdom of Cambodia. A key element in PCOSIIP is to sponsor COSI youths through tertiary education under the PCOSIIP Education Fund. Two youths were admitted into a Phnom Penh university last year. Over the course of the next two years, an estimated 12 youths would be graduating from high school grade 12.

With the burgeoning number of COSI youths scheduled to graduate from COSI over the coming years, it is imperative that coordinated effort be directed toward raising funds for PCOSIIP Education Fund. Over the past years, the COSI Angel’s Program in PMC has raised substantial money to finance the trips undertaken by our youth teams to COSI.

This year, the COSI young adults team in conjunction with YMPACT youths and the PMC running community are launching the Angels run4COSI program. The Angels run4COSI will raise funds via outright donations and runner pledges. Every cent raised will be channeled towards the PCOSIIP Education Fund.

Yes, participants in the Angels run4COSI will be undertaking a run!

The designated event is the Streetwise Run scheduled for July 5, 2009 (Sunday). The non-competitive category open to the public is the 4 km run, with an estimated 3:30 pm flag off. Registration fee is by way of a donation (minimum of $10).

If you would like to join us in securing the future for the COSI kids by either making a donation (cheque made payable to "Pentecost Methodist Church", and noting "Angels run4COSI" at the back of the cheque) and/or participating as an Angel in the Streetwise Run. Each Angel undertakes a pledge to raise a minimum of $200 for the PCOSIIP Education Fund.

To find out more, drop me an email at seong350@gmail.com

Ryan Hall - Running for a Cause

David Goggins and Badwater 135 ultra 2007

Determined to raise money for the children of soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan, he started taking part in ultramarathons. He went on to run Badwater twice, finishing third in 2006. He also completed the Hawaii Ironman in 2008 with little swim and bike experience. What an inpsiration David Goggins is!
His website: I am nobody special.
Read more...

run4COSI SCSM update

Congratulations to Long, Hongyee, Teck Hui, Rachel, Stephanie, Faith and PK for completing their races last Sunday at the SCSM!

Regardless of timing, the key thing is that you guys completed what you started out to accomplish, and you did it for the COSI kids! Well done!

run4COSI and Run for a Cause

In his No Need for Speed column for the RW magazine (Nov issue) titled "Faith, Hope and Charities: running for something other than yourself is the greatest gift of our sport", John Bingham (one of my favorite authors) wrote about running for a cause. Some may scoff at such runners and dismiss such gimmicks, but there are increasingly more and more people who run for causes close to their hearts.

Jennifer Lopez is a good recent example - she completed a triathlon to raise funds for a children hospital. Dean Karnazes ran for many cancer-stricken children. The Run for Hope race is to commemorate Terry Fox, who inspired generations of runners in his bid to raise money for the fight against cancer.



run4COSI is also about running for a cause, but there are faces we can identify with. The children whom you played and talked with. You laughed, ate and prayed together. You grew up with these kids, and understood their fears and concerns. These are the beneficiaries you love and care for.

The ending of John Bingham's article resonated deeply:

So many of us have changed our own lives through running that it makes sense we would want to change the lives of others the same way. We can take the drive, ambition, and dedication we used to transform ourselves from couch potatoes to athletes and channel that into making a difference for someone else. When that happens, we'll truly understand the words of the renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

More resources for our run4COSI team in training:

THE RUNNER'S WORLD 8-WEEK BEGINNING RUNNER'S TRAINING PROGRAM
by Amby Burfoot

Many good tips are provided such as nutrition before the run, arm position, dealing with hot weather, potential running injuries and good use of cross training.

One great quote: "Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."
--William Faulkner

run4COSI

Some weeks ago, the idea of running to raise funds for COSI education project was mooted. We aim to implement this project some time next year. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many members of PMC COSI team have signed up for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon this Dec, for various distances from 10km to the full 42km. That's really wonderful news.

TH and F spoke to me about how to train for the race. Enthusiasm is good and will carry us through, but there are pitfalls such as over extending oneself and risking injury. I have always maintained that the key to running is to complete the race injury free in order to have a good race experience. So here's a structured and disciplined training program that you may find useful.

Key principles:

1. Regularize your exercise / training program. For starters, set aside time for three sessions per week. There will only be one session for the long run, and the other two sessions can be 20 to 30 minutes each. The long session will be one hour, extending up to two hours for those training for the half marathon, and about one hour for those training for the 10 km run.

2. 10% rule: Gradually increase your mileage or intensity, by no more than 10% per week. The proven approach is gradual adaption to stress. So for instance, if your long run is currently 5 km, increase your long run distance to 5.5 to 6 km next week, and no more. If your pace is 6 min/km, don't push it up to 5 min/km this week. Note: either increase distance or intensity (pace or speed), not both at the same time. For first timers, aim for distance instead of speed.

3. Run your own race. Since the objective is to complete the race, it does not matter how fast you run. Do NOT yield to temptation. Do NOT compare with other runners and with each other. You run your own race, at your own time.

4. Walk breaks. This approach has been advocated by Jeff Galloway and Amy Burfoot (Executive Director, Runner's World Magazine). The run-walk system works this: run for say 5 minutes, and then walk for 1 minute. The ratio varies from 1:1 (1 min run, 1 min walk) for beginners to 9:1 (9 min run, 1 min walk) for seasoned marathoners.

5. Recovery makes us stronger runners. Always build in a recovery week. Recommendation is to have a recovery week after every three weeks of build up. The distance covered in the recovery week is about 50 to 60% of current distance.

Recommended program:

There will be three training sessions per week. Sat is designated as the long run day. But feel free to swap the sessions around to fit into your schedule. The other two sessions are described by time as well as distance.

[Choose time or distance based on your own comfort level. IOW, don't try to run 3 km within 20 minutes. If you can only run/jog 20 minutes and not cover 3 km, don't worry. Stick to the 20 minutes!]

If you have more time, include another session for either a walk/jog or swim or bike or gym. This is just a rough program for the 10 km race:

Week ending / Tue / Thu / Sat
Oct 12 / 20 min (3km) / 20 min (3km) / 5 km
Oct 19 / 20 min (3km) / 20 min (3km) / 6 km
Oct 26 / 30 min (4km) / 30 min (4km) / 7 km
Nov 1 / 20 min (3km) / rest / 5 km
Nov 8 / 30 min (4km) / 30 min (4km) / 7.5 km
Nov 15 / 35 min (4.5km) / 30 min (4km) / 8 km
Nov 23 / 35 min (4.5km) 30 min (4km) / 8.5 km
Nov 30 / 20 min (3km) / 20 min (3km) / 6 km
Dec 7 / 20 min (3km) / rest / 10 km RACE
Dec 14 / 10 min walk / rest / 10-15 min jog

You'd notice that the two weeks before the race are scaled down. This is known as the taper period, where we maintain the same intensity, but cut down on the distances.

The corresponding long run distances for half marathon training are as follows:
Oct 12 - 8 km
Oct 19 - 10 km
Oct 26 -12 km
Nov 1 - 8.5 km
Nov 8 - 14 km
Nov 15 - 16 km
Nov 23 - 18 km
Nov 30 - 10 km
Dec 7 - 21 km RACE

The other two training sessions each week remain unchanged, but can add 10 minutes more if you feel you can cope. Recovery week after the race remains the same. The recovery week essentially reminds us to take it easy after the race, and to ease back into shape through walks and jogs.

See related post on COSI angel project.

Medals4Mettle

RW Oct 2008 featured Steven Isenberg, MD, a head and neck surgeon in Indianapolis, who was so moved by a cancer-stricken colleague that he gave him his finisher's medal. "You are running a much more difficult marathon than the one I completed."

Dr Isenberg went on to start Medals4Mettle, a non-profit organization that collects medals and donates them to people battling illnesses. Not surprisingly, most medals go to children hospitals. Todate, Medals4Mettle has collected more than 3,500 medals. This meant more than 3,500 patients have been uplifted in spirit!

Some future plans include working with marathons to arrange a meaningful way to distribute unused medals and arranging the gifting of unused marathon T-shirts to deserving recipients.

What a simple and wonderfully inspired idea.

Methodist Welfare Services fund raising run

Received a letter from Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) today thanking donors for supporting four Methodists pastors who ran the SAFRA Singapore Bay Run/Army Half Marathon to raise funds for MWS.

Alvin Chan; Wesley Methodist
Terence Yeo; Barker Road Methodist
Bernard Chao; Trinity Methodist
Khoo Cheng Hoot; Hakka Methodist

Curiosity got the better of me and I set out to find out the completion times. A little guesswork ... (with lots of room for error) and this is the best I can do:

Alvin Chan P H - 2:22 (Men closed)
Terence Yeo N J - 1:58 (Men closed)
Bernard Chao W C - 2:42 (Men closed)

I applaud the pastors for their novel effort!

imaRunner: Warren and Tom Knoll

RW Sept 2008 issue featured a father-son pair who ran across the US, covering 3,330 miles from San Diego to Washington DC, over 112 days. Tom (75) is a veteran ex-Marine who has tallied up over 75,000 miles from 185 marathons and ultras, 9 250-mile and runs and a cross country trek. Warren (44) runs a publishing company in Wisconsin and has to his credit 53 marathons and 9 Ironmans.

Each day, Tom started at 5 am and Warren started an hour later (due to differences in pace), covering 30 miles. A day rest every 10 days. They were joined by Marines and other recreational runners along the way. The cross country feat raised funds for wounded veterans.

A fall on the very first day came back to haunt Tom 61 days later when he realized that he couldn't see well out of his right eve. That was a side effect from the fall - cataracts. But Tom pressed on, refusing surgery.

A fellow runner noted: "By the end of the day, Warren was withered by the sun, and Tom didn't look so great. But they got up the next day to do it again. All I can say is, wow."

As an aside, the fastest run across the United States was by Frank Gianno Jr - 46 days, 8 hours and 36 minutes - back in 1980!

imaRunner is a series about ordinary people and their not-so-ordinary running achievements.