55:55:55

I ran the Great Eastern Singapore Womens 10K (6.25 miles) last Sunday with an official chip time of just under 56 minutes. Only women were allowed to run - although I saw a few questionable "women" in the race - and 8,200 showed up for the event. The Kenyans finished in 33 minutes! They were amazing!

I was quite pleased with myself but sooo exhausted. After Germany, my illness got even worse during the week and I ended up seeing a respiratory specialist. My ear completely clogged up and I could not hear anything out of it, my throat remained sore and my chest hurt. I went to the doctor to get rid of this mess quick-like so I could run the 10K Sunday. When I said that...he laughed at me and told me I was not running!

My birthday was Friday and I was feeling so bad that I called off my own party! How sad is that? By Saturday I was feeling better and on Sunday...well, I didn't listen very well to my doctor's warnings and ran the 10K anyway! I felt alright except for a little cough and no hearing on the left side. I hadn't really worked out all week or ran but I was determined to do this thing.




Honestly...it felt harder to me than when I ran the Houston Marathon...which is 20 miles more! It was so tough but I never stopped and kept pushing through. Rob was there to cheer me on and 2 other girls from my basketball team also ran. I finally finished in 55:55:55!

After I finished, Rob and I both came home and slept 3 hours! We later went to watch the SG Basketball team play (Rob has season tickets and I went with a few girls) and we were home and asleep by 9:45 that night!

I went back to the doctor yesterday and my blood tests came back...turns out, I have "walking pneumonia"! I am still on meds but honestly don't even feel sick any more other than tiring easily. So with that...I am really proud of myself for running and thankful I was able to sleep when I finished!

We don't have too much planned in the near future. Rob has clients in all this week and next and Halloween is just around the corner! I start another term next weekend - this one is going to be tough! In a few weeks, Rob is going to Melbourne for a Horse Race or something (for work) and then we will be getting ready to go back to Texas in December for Todd and Jenni's wedding!!!

Feeling a little Rattled...Literally

So...there was a major earthquake that hit Sumatra, Indonesia last night.

Rob is in China this week so I was home all alone, just after 7pm last night. I was sitting at the computer and all of a sudden, my chair was rocking back and forth. I was taken off-guard and was like..."what in the world???" Then I heard a soft tapping noise so I got up to find our hanging lamp swinging around. It was moving back and forth a little too much for comfort.

At this point, I a few things went through my mind...well first, my heart rate shot up and I immediately had adrenalin pumping.

Rewind to earlier in the day, our washer was leaking water...I had pulled out the washer and dryer and checked all the hoses and it was spinning hard and rocking all around. So at first, I thought it was a crazy spin cycle...but the washer wasn't going...

Then, just about 20 minutes before I felt the shaking, I heard a loud roar, like a jet or something. I thought maybe the shaking was from that...wrong again.

Even though I was scared, I was not in panic mode...just confused. I looked out my window and my neighbor was cooking dinner like nothing was happening. I didn't care though...at this point, I am still watching the light shake and I don't want to stick around to see what else would happen. I walked outside my door and everyone was just as normal as can be. Our other neighbor had their door open and the kids were watching tv, no one was running outside or no commotion whatsoever.

This all took less than a minute.

Now, I know you are not supposed to use the elevator in an earthquake, but judging from everyone else, I was being much more pro-active than they were. I just felt I had to get away from my living room as quickly as possible, so I felt safe enough to take the lift down. I just didn't want to be in my living room all alone with stuff shaking. In fact, at this point, I am thinking I am the only person feeling this so I am super-confused!

I got to the first floor in what felt like a millisecond because my mind was racing...but still, everyone was normal as can be on ground level. There were kids in the pool, some playing basketball, couples seated at the tables laughing and eating...aunties walking around...nothing unusual.

I walked around to let off some steam, thinking it was some sort of crazy structural issue only in block 12, floor 35, unit 13...After 10 minutes I was back in my place and immediately called Rob.

He didn't even say hello, He just said "Are you okay?" I was like, how did he know???? Well, in the meantime, his colleague from Singapore had SMS'd him and told him there was an earthquake and he was calling me at the same time I called him. He told ME what happened and chills overtook my whole body and I thought HOLY CRAP! The reality of what just happened hit me in that instant and I have to say it was a freaky experience! I realized there had been a major natural diaster and I just experienced a tiny slice of it without even fully knowing it.

Below is taken from the 28th floor of an east coast condo...this looks worse than what I experienced though! The east coast (which, linear distance, is only 10 miles away) felt the impact a bit more, it appears! Had I felt it this much, I would be writing an entirely different story and would have flown down 35 flights of stairs!



At least the girl giggles at the end!

It was just a little shaking, nothing bad and most people didn't even seem to notice, it seemed. However, on the news, it said they had evacuated high-rises in Singapore and had video clips from Jakarta of the same kind of shaking I experienced.

If I felt this 360 miles away, I can't imagine what the folks in Sumatra felt...I really hope they are safe there are minimal damages. At least it's not another disaster like the tsunami in 2004. I can only pray there is not a high death toll.

On to other natural disasters...I hear of a tropical depression headed for Galveston. Please be safe everyone! Take neccessary precautions and we will be keeping an eye on the storm from here!

Love,
Trish

IRONROB

He did it!

70.3 miles using only his own power for six and half hours....

Rob completed the half IRONMAN last Sunday and I could not be more proud of him! He worked so hard for to reach this goal for himself. Througout his 15 weeks of training, he logged 180 miles running, 560 miles biking and 26 miles of swimming, as well as hitting the gym once a week to lift! He also cut out the heavy drinking and watched what he ate.

This was an amazing goal for him to reach, he set it for himself, worked hard and acheived it. He has come a really long way!


Let me talk a minute about Rob's weight loss; alot of people think it started just before he moved to Singapore. He actually started losing weight WAY back in 2003 after his first MS150. A short while later, he decided to cut out fast food and alcohol for 6 weeks. At that time, both made up a huge part of Rob's diet, so replacing that with water & home-cooked food...and eating throughout the day...helped shed pounds alone. This encouraged him to keep going.

He also got the exercise bug...more MS150's, marathons, biathlons, triathlons and ultimately the half Ironman. This has been a process that has taken about 3.5 to 4 years. He has worked hard and had to have will power...of course it can't be all work and no play! Its all about balancing everything in order to stick to it and make it a lifestyle...afterall, life would be a little less fun without Mexican food, ice cream and the occassional night out until 5am!

Below are some pics of the event...I made signs and cheered him along the entire time! From the 7:25am swim start at the beach, to the finish right in the center of the city. The finish line was a happening atmosphere, it took place on the "Floating Platform" with a great view of the city, lots of people, music and booths. As far as watching, I wasn't bored at all...this stuff goes hand in hand with my college education and new career path....so it was really fun for me to watch. I honestly thought I would get bored after 4 hours, but it was fun being a spectator too...I love this stuff anyway!

Now I have been right next to Rob when he has "hit his wall" during competition. He becomes very stubborn, grumpy, wants to sit down and never move again! (Sydney Marathon last year!). When he does get back up, he hates every minute of it until he finishes! This competition was totally different. The entire time, he looked really good, dare I say, Happy! I never saw him looking like he was hurting or hating it. He seemed to soak up every second of it and looked good throughout the entire event.

Rob wouldn't be Rob without a bit of friendly competition and trash-talkin'. Mikael, from the office, also did the event. They have done tri's and biathlons together in the past, always with some bet or wager on the line. however, this event is so big that neither one of them could really talk trash after finishing it.

As far as recovery, he's has also done well - still getting around just fine but a little sore.

So...any other psycho crazy long events in the near future???? I think he is done for a while. Maybe stick to 2 hour competitions like half marathons and olympic distance tri's.

This event was a qualifying event that included elite athletes from 48 countries. The top guy finished at 3:49:59 and the top female at 4:11:23. Rob finished with a respectable 6:22:40; in his age group, he was 61 out of 126.

Awakening the 8 Year Old Kid in All of Us

Ever wondered what it would be like to see a 90 metric tonne (nearly 200,000lbs!!) real-life sized Tonka truck hoisted off the dock and lowered into a tween deck in a ship just with just enough space to fit it?


Well, I never did either until we turned the corner on the dock and I saw this huge yellow machinery towering over us with just the black tires being almost twice as tall as Rob.

This one of the really cool parts of Rob's job. The BBC Zarate was loading these trucks in Singapore (which is rare to watch a loading here) so since this job is the reason we are here and all, Rob and I decided to go onboard and watch it.

I didn't realize all the engineering that went behind loading. For instance, as these huge cranes pick up the truck off the dock side, it pumps in water on the sea side of the ship to counter-balance the weight. Ironically, if the ship didn't take IN water, it would capsize!

Also, there are 2 cranes onboard to help in loading cargo; while one crane was hoisting the truck, the other was on standby to aid in the balancing act. If the ship started to favor one side, then the other crane could swing out to help correct the center of bouyancy. Luckily it didn't need to do this...although Rob said it's happened before where the ship didn't take on water and 16.5 tons of cargo started swinging making the ship rock like a swing set! The crane operator had to drop the cargo into the water! Yikes!

Anyway, I think I learned more in these few hours of watching the cargo load than I did in my shipping classes when getting my maritime degree!

This was as cool as when TJ took me to see how the planes are contructed at Cessna. It was really neat to see. I know the Whitfield men would have liked to see this...so in your honour, I have posted a few pictures...these are taken with Rob's camera phone.

Winners of the Losers

APC Singapore hosted a client appreciation Volleyball Tournament last Saturday. It was a great opportunity for Rob and I to showcase our volleyball skills, landing us in the championship...of the losers.

One great thing about Singapore being a small island is that an overly-capitalized beach is never too far away. The tournament was held at Singapore's "resort get-away island", Sentosa. It's actually a pretty island but the rate they are building on Sentosa seems like disneyland will be in our backyard soon.

Anyway, Rob's office rented out part of an outdoor bar/grill area and 2 volleyball courts. The games started at 11:30am and lasted until about 3pm. The weather was nice and hot for us but rained at lunch, just long enough to cool things down.

Rob and I were on team APC1, along with a couple of his German and Danish colleagues. About 50 people showed up with their families and friends so it ended up being a good turn out.

Sadly, APC1 lost the first 2 games and we were matched up to play with the other APC team in our final game to play for last place. I should have put more thought into joining the host team! We finally won a game against the APC2 team, making us either the Winners of the Losers or...Losers of the Losers...??

The team that won was an all Danish guy team from the Danish shipping company, Maersk. I am convinced they had been practicing and training for months leading up to this. Probably even hired new people just to play on this Saturday! (just kidding!)

The fun lasted for us until around 5pm, but some stayed and continued the party until well after dark!

Stuff + Phuket, Thailand

Hey Everyone!

To catch everyone up on things, I have finished my first term at ECU and just started semester 2 yesterday. School sure didn't go by this fast when I was at A&M! I am taking Nutrition and Exercise Programming this semester, so it's really interesting to me!

I have also been pushing forward with my new company! I am currently working on launching my website for SWEAT FITNESS! Check it out if you can at SWEATFIT.com It's still a work in progress so don't expect too much at this point! I am a certified personal trainer and will make appointments with clients at parks, homes and gyms to help them reach their fitness goals. I am a vendor at my first fair next month to try and get clients!

Speaking of fitness....Rob is becoming Superman before my very eyes. He's really been training hard for the upcoming triathlon on July 28th and get this....he is doing a HALF IRONMAN in September (on your birthday dad!)! He's been cycling, swimming and running like crazy. I am so proud of him. The half Ironman consist of a 1.2 mile swim plus a 56 mile bike ride and finishes off with a 13.1 mile run! Can you believe all that at one time? Here is the route around Singapore - he's basically going around the whole country! Just the yellow part is swim...so you can really see how much he is doing in one day!



We just got back from Phuket, Thailand...many of you may recognize this name because it was one of the places effected by the tsunami in Dec. 2004. They have re-built hotels, the landscape is pretty and it's a booming tourist trap again! It POURED rain the first few days we were there. There were some very strong winds and heavy rain and we thought we were in a *spontaneous* monsoon at times! It's was okay though - gave us the chance to truly relax on vacation. We hung out in our room, watched DVD's, took in a few massages and daily naps....not bad! The sun finally came out around the 3rd day so we got some sun and returned with tans afterall! We did a few 'adventure' tours...we went white-water rafting, elephant trekking and snorkeling.




The main thing was getting away, unplugging and enjoying time with each other - which we managed to accomplish! Oh, and yes, as usual, Rob got sick to his tummy and I needed first aide. It wouldn't be a trip without him having MUD-BUTT and me injuring some part of my body. He took meds and was only ill for 24 hours...I just sliced my hand on some barnacles. No worries though - we are back to normal now!