I played squash with AJ earlier tonight. No, not SDM AJ but Dr. AJ from Course 2 (MIT speak for mechanical engineering) who recently earned his new salutation of doctor after his successful thesis defense a month and a half ago - congratulations, Dr. AJ.

I can't believe it's been more than 10 weeks since I last played squash with AJ. I will pay the price tomorrow with sore thighs and wrist. It was a good game. We should do it again, AJ.

10/5/2006 12:11:48 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

I performed terribly in all sports that I played last weekend. I didn't do very well at the weekly LFM soccer game on Friday. I wasn't as fast as I had wanted to be and didn't handled the ball very well. Worse, I hurt my ankle during the game - still nursing the injury at the moment. Saturday's tennis game with Dave wasn't much better either. I struggled with most of my serves and had difficulty returning Dave's serves. The squash game with AJ and Sriram on Sunday was another disaster. Out of 6 games, I lost all games with them. I wasn't hitting that badly; but my problem was placement - I kept hitting the ball straight at my opponent, which made it easy for them to return. Arghhh... How frustrating.

But the biggest disappointment in sports last weekend was the World Cup final. It was a heartbreaker not because the team that I supported for lost but my favorite player in the World Cup, Zinedine Zidane, did something blatantly and deliberately stupid. I am still baffled by Zidane's head-butt on Italy's Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final. What circumstances prompted him to do this? Apparently, the whole news media around the world are still covering this news two days after it happened. I don't know, I was disappointed by this incident. All in all, an utterly disappointment in sports last weekend - self-induced and otherwise. :-(

7/11/2006 11:27:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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As a World Cup junkie who has been watching the most beloved game in the world as of late, I have been itching for a real game so that I can, too, bend it like Beckham. I had suggested a friendly football match between LFM and SDM to satisfy my itch but the reception from my SDM class has been less than enthusiastic at first. I finally got a team of about 12 people from SDM but I now have scheduling problems as not all of us can play at the same time. Arghhh... It looks like we might finally get that match scheduled for the weekend of July 14-16.

Not willing to wait, I played in an LFM organized football pick-up game yesterday. Despite being the holiday weekend, there were 24 people playing on the MIT AstroTurf at one point of the game. Most players are LFM students and there were a few MBA and ESD students. Ankur and I were the only people from SDM. I played my usual position as a defender. Even though I have not played for more than 5 years, I was very happy with my performance. I was fast and well coordinated. I was feeling confident by the second half. It was a fun game and I plan to continue playing this pick-up game every Friday.

7/1/2006 3:31:47 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Since the World Cup opening on June 9, there has been a series of televised football matches on TV. For the last 19 days, watching World Cup matches has become a daily staple for me with at least one game per day. However, I was dumbfounded earlier today to find that there won't be any matches scheduled for today and tomorrow. YEP, THERE'S NO FOOTBALL TODAY AND TOMORROW. This means that I have some time now to read parts of the bibliography that my thesis advisor had compiled for me.

6/28/2006 12:04:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

Now that I am officially working on my master's thesis, what did I do last weekend. Honestly, absolutely nothing - I did zip, nil, nada, diddly-squat this weekend. My time this weekend (Thursday to Sunday) was spent watching the World Cup, playing computer games, and partying with the boys: Fernando, Nick, Serge, Sorin, and Will.

Speaking of the World Cup, I am becoming quite a World-Cup junkie these days. I try to watch every game whenever I can. Last weekend was no exception. I watched every game that was televised. For the Argentina vs. Mexico game, I suggested to the boys that we watch it at the Phoenix Landing. I expected the place to be crowded but not jam-packed with people. We were one of the last few people to get into the pub and we barely found standing room to watch the game. We love it though. It's like being in the stadium. There was a large contingent of Argentinian supporters, all wearing the Argentinian national football jersey, chanting throughout the game. Surprisingly, the Mexican contingent was not as lively but nonetheless enthusiastic. The atmosphere was definitely spirited. I think all 6 of us agree that the Landing is now our offical location to watch live World Cup matches. The Argentina vs. Mexico was an excellent game. I have to compliment the way Latin Americans play the game. They really play with a lot of passion and energy, and all their moves are so fluid. It was always fun watching them play.

Here are other football matches that I watched last weekend. The England vs. Ecuador match was just plain boring. The English players played a tepid style of football - the players look tired and unenthusiastic. Even the Germans who are traditionally boring, mechanic, and stiff on the field played a more interesting game in their matchup against the Swedes last weekend. The Germans seem to be playing very well as a team. They have good team dynamics and have been playing consistently well so far. I like this German team and I am looking forward to the quarter final game where Germany plays Argentina.

Last but not least, there is the Portugal vs Netherlands game. I got one word for that game: tragic. I have never seen so many yellow and red cards given out in a single game; 16 yellows and 4 reds. Sure, FIFA rules may have been changed in this year's World Cup and consequently led to more yellow cards being issued; but I think that the referee ultimately did a terrible job in officiating this game. After the first goal by Portugal, the game was marred by the erosion of sportsmanship. With tension mounting on both sides, the referee can't just issue yellow and red cards and expect to clam the situation down. Especially, not when it is not done in a inconsistent manner.

6/26/2006 11:46:15 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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This news that I heard earlier from the BBC earlier today cracks me up. Apparently, some women in the Netherlands and the U.K. are so against their significant others who will be spending time watching football (or soccer) during the World Cup that they are launching online websites to publish their opposition to the upcoming football fever. See websites, www.wegmethetwk.nl and www.stoptheworldcup.co.uk. From these websites, anyone who are opposed to football or the World Cup can select to participate in auction bid for trips to the one place where they can get away from it all, New York City, U.S.A - where football isn't very popular.

Speaking of the World Cup, anyone who will be hosting a World Cup party in the Boston area or know of someone who does, please let me know. I grew up playing soccer but for some reason I am still not a fan of watching 22 men running all over a big field. Nevertheless, any excuse to hang out with mates over beers and TV is a good enough reason to like the World Cup.

6/9/2006 12:18:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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My body is in pain today. I ran yesterday for the very first time after a month long of sedentary activities. Funny, I was reminded of the Boston Marathon during the run yesterday. When I was about to start the stopwatch at the beginning of my run yesterday, I saw the exact time that was last taken from my Boston Marathon run a month ago. Indeed, that was the last time I ran.

Speaking of the Boston Marathon, I took plenty of pictures during the Boston Marathon last month. But due to my busy schedule at school (my favorite excuse), I have been deferring the transfer of the pictures from my camera to the computer for the entire month. No longer, another consequence of the ending of the school semester is that I have finally run of excuse to procrastinate. So those pictures were finally transferred to my computer last night. Here is a sample of the pictures:

Cowman marathoner	Live bands
A water station	Half way mark, right after Wellesley College
7 miles to go, Heartbreak Hill	3.2 miles to go, Brookline, MA
0.2 miles to go, final dash	The finish line

5/24/2006 1:07:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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The amount of accolade that I received from friends, colleagues, and even strangers for completing the Boston marathon was amazing. I am actually feeling so empowered right now that I am already planning to run the Boston Marathon next year.

4/21/2006 11:38:59 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

Yep, I did it. I finished my second Boston marathon in 4:48:20 hrs today. Since I have only trained for the marathon a month before with more more than 7 miles long runs, the best thing for me to do was to take everything in moderation. In other words, establish a moderate pace of 11 minutes per mile, have a good attitude, and most of all have fun doing it. For these reasons, I really enjoyed today's run. I maintained my pace at exactly 11 minutes per mile - forcing myself not to go too fast at the beginning and too slow at the end. I was proud by the fact that I didn't walk during today's run. I did, however, stop a lot to to drink and to take pictures, which I have taken a lot of. I will post them later.

Because I was a bandit runner, I was placed at the end of the line and didn't start till 45 minutes after the first athletes had started running. I caught up to my friend, Denise at around mile 4 and we ran together till mile 16 where we met Denise's friend, Natasha. Feeling really confident and strong, I decided to depart ways with Denise to run the rest of the race by myself. Unlike my last Boston Marathon I overcame the Newton Hills - a series of 4 hills between mile 17.5 and mile 21 - without stopping. Better yet, I picked up my pace and past a few dozen runners during the ascent. However, the last 4 miles of the race was a bit of a struggle for me as I have exhausted every once of energy in my body.

Having ran the course before helped with my planning of the marathon run as I know what to expect. I find that the first 13 miles is relatively easy while the last 13 miles is a lot more difficult, especially the Newton Hills, including Heartbreak Hill, as being the most grueling part of the race. The moral of the story is to moderate yourself, make sure you run at a pace that are comfortable. Every time I tried to be a hero and run faster than my training pace on race day, especially at the beginning of the race, gets me into trouble later in the race. The surest way to improve one's running pace is to train hard, which is something that I lack. Anyway, this is my 2 cents. All in all, this is a really fun race and I am really glad that I did it. I would like to thank Eimear for giving a ride to the starting line and subsequently cheering me on at the finishing line. Big thanks also go out to Denise whose company has been valuable during the marathon. Last but not least, I would like to thank the numerous people who supported me for the run.

4/18/2006 12:00:33 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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How stupid am I? A day before the big race, I decided to play ultimate frisbee with my TPP buddies. Alright, I was lucky nothing catastrophic happened, but I did get a few minor blisters due to excessive lateral movement in the game. Also, my ankles were pretty sore after the game but after a quick run after the game, they seem to be okay now. The game was an intramural tournament where we played against team Tang Hall and the game was laid back and . Under Matt's excellent leadership and coaching, we won the game. Anyway, it is time to recuperate for tomorrow's race. I am planing to keep a low profile tonight by working on my assignments.

4/16/2006 4:29:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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So it has been decided, I will be running the Boston Marathon on April 17 as a renegade runner (running the race unregistered) along with my friend, Denise who is a registered runner. It was a last-minute decision for me. For the last couple weeks, I was simply overwhelmed with school and have little time to train, not to mention the lack of sleep and poor diet that I have been having. But despite not being in peak shape, I have to do the Boston Marathon this year as this may be my last chance. I hope my knees don't give out tomorrow. We'll see... Anyway, wish me luck.

4/16/2006 12:40:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I wasn't planning to run the Boston College MBA Challenge 5k Race but I eventually caved in to peer pressure and ran the race on Saturday (thanks to Serge and Nick). This year, my finishing time this year is 25:26 min (8:11 min/mile pace), way down from last year's time of 23:10 (7:26 min/mile pace). What happened? I don't know, I wasn't feeling particularly motivated to run fast or was capable of being speed demon. Nonetheless, it was a fun run along with fellow SDMers, Will, Serge, Nick, Leticia, and Jessica, and other colleagues from the Sloan MBA program.

4/10/2006 8:14:52 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

I have improved my squash skills since I started playing squash with John. A few nights ago, I threw my back and hurt my shoulders while playing squash at the z-center. I think I over stretched my back while trying to get the ball at the far corner of the court. I am no longer a young stallion anymore and my back just couldn't take that kind of (mild) abuse anymore. Another reason why turning 35 sucks. I was flexible enough not to stretch before any major exercise or run in the first 35 years; do remind me to stretch the next time.

Also, the way I am hitting in squash the last 2 weeks is bad. How bad? Bad enough to hurt my shoulder. For some reason, I have developing a tendency to hit the squash ball like I would with a tennis ball. I think I am explaining the physics wrong (please comment if this is incorrect) but the reason why a squash stroke is not the same as a tennis stroke is because tennis ball is heavier and requires more power than squash ball. Furthermore, because of the presence of a tennis net, you do need give the tennis ball a good spin by rubbing the ball with the racquet upon contact. Thus, a tennis stroke draws power from the shoulder and elbow, and requires a slightly different follow through than that of squash to give it a good spin. In squash, the ball is smaller, lighter, and more elastic, you just need to hit it hard enough to get a good bounce off the wall. So you can imagine hitting a squash ball with tennis stroke is not good because it is fundamentally wrong. I am over exerting my shoulder and spinning the ball for no good reason. In squash it is all about the wrist...

2/16/2006 9:57:14 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Sports

One talk that none of my classmates blogged is Partha Gosh's talk on Leadership. Gosh was invited last Wednesday to the SDM business trip to talk about leadership. I had attended Gosh's talk on leadership that was part of my TPP curriculum a month ago and even blogged about it. Like before, I enjoyed his talk on leadership last week. I like like the spiritual and human value of what he was trying to bring to the table. Likewise, my TPP classmates like him so much that we invited Gosh back for more lectures on leadership development. Conversely, the reaction from my SDM classmates were mixed. I surveyed the class about the lecture and for those who responded, half of them liked the talk and the half didn't. One of my classmates said: "Why would I want to learn leadership from someone whom I won't want to follow?" That was an interesting quote because here is a bigger question: Should people who teach leadership exude presence and inspiration? True, Gosh's talk that night was a little dry and slow. Indeed, I think that it is much harder to talk about leadership to a group of people who are more mature and has significant professional experience than a cohort of students with the majority who are in their early twenties. Anyway, those are my observations. Oh, time to go for a run...

10/30/2005 4:52:48 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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I am turning the TV off, the New England Patroits game is getting too painful to watch. This is a good choice since I also need to focus on finishing up my homework. With the way the Pats are playing now, I don't see them playing in the playoffs; but then again, the entire AFC East is playing so bad at the moment, the Pats may still stand a good chance.

10/16/2005 6:30:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

Yesterday, I played my first flag football ever. I am now part of the TPP flag football team who plays in the MIT intramural sports program. Since I was new to flag football, I found myself constantly adjusting to the game in the first half. By the second half of the game, I was playing not only smarter from observations and adjustments from the first half but also more aggressive due to the adrenaline surge. Despite our best efforts, we failed to tie the game and lost the game with a score of 14-6. Good game, nonetheless.

9/25/2005 12:34:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I have discovered a new and novel energy drink called Trek Energy over the weekend. I found them in the "Wild Harvest" section of the Shaw's Supermarket situated halfway between MIT and Central Square. I paid $2.15 for a 620ml bottle to try it out. But I got more than just a drink, the bottle is designed like a mini Nalgene bottle. Yes, you can actually reuse the bottle as your own outdoor water bottle. The bottle is lightweight but tough. The cap twists off easily but seals the bottle well when it is tightened. Even better, it comes with a carabina which I can clip the bottle onto my backpack. As for the drink itself, I have only tasted the lemon-lime flavor, which I found it to taste exactly like Smirnoff Ice only without the vodka. In any case, the drink is definitely worth paying $2.15 for the free accessories.

8/21/2005 11:36:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

I was supposed to run the Witch City Triathlon 2 weeks ago. But due to the excessive school load I couldn't find time to train and eventually gave up on running the triathlon. Today, I received a surprise refund check from Fiske Independent Race Management or F.I.R.M, the organizer of the event. Kudos to the organizer for the cash.

On a different note, the evening run today was great. With my chest pain gone, my strides were strong and my posture confident and relaxed. The temperature was nice too. Overall, it was a good run. I just have one more thing I need to do today: to complete my final paper for Fabrication Technology. So let's get it over with...

8/15/2005 8:32:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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This guy is unbelievable. Ultra-marathoner Jim Dreyer com endured the chilly currents of Lake Superior to complete a 54 mile swim across Lake Superior yesterday. You should check out his website. He is perhaps the first to swim across all five of the Great Lakes. From his website, you find that his greatest accomplishment is swimming 350 miles across the length of Lake Michigan in 30 days. Wow...

8/5/2005 1:26:15 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Partly inspired by Lance's Tour de France win and partly motivated by the awesome weather, I went for a run with Camille in the afternoon. We ran the same route that I did yesterday. Running in the company of another runner sure made the run easier. After today's run, I am going to start running regularly like I did before summer school. So here's an idea, perhaps I should start looking for a running companion - preferably female .

7/24/2005 10:22:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

Lance Armstrong did again. Today, Lance rode into retirement with a 7th consecutive win in the Tour de France. His run of success will go down in the sports annals as arguably one of the greatest sport achievement. Diagnosed with a terminal cancer and given less than a 50-50 chance of survival, he miraculously recovered and came back to win his first Tour de France title in 1999 and he was been winning the Tour every year since then. Very few athletes have attained the dominance and consistency as those of Lance Armstrong.

As I recall from a recent ESPN feature on Lance, he was genetically gifted with a 10% bigger than average heart and through training he enlarged his heart to 30%. According to a conversation with Yoav last Friday, Lance has a 35 heartbeats per minute (bpm) resting and 200 bpm at his peak. Wow!!! He is a freak of nature. Nonetheless, congratulations to Lance on your win today and may your achievements inspire people, including me, in years to come.

7/24/2005 1:17:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Lately, I have been feeling really stressed from school, moving, selling my condo, and everything else. Worse, my sedentary lifestyle has left me feeling unfit, somewhat lethargic, and easily vexed. That is why I felt really good when I finally went for my first run in a month and a half earlier today. I also discovered that Kristall beverage is amazingly refreshing after a run. Unlike American beverages, which are overloaded with sugar, I prefer the lighter and intriguing taste of the European beverages. Why doesn't Coke or Pepsi realize that their drinks will taste so much better by reducing their sugar level by at least half!!!

7/23/2005 8:09:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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At the moment, my legs and arms are feeling like jelly. I am simply too exhausted from my first swim workout with the MIT Triathlon Club. I was intimidated by the MIT triathletes’ swimming prowess. Not only were they able to cover twice the distance that I did, they also swam effortlessly past me a couple of times. Considering that I only started swimming seriously 2 months ago, I shouldn't get too discouraged with today's workout. Maybe swimming with the MIT triathletes was a bad idea at this point in my young swimming career. Nonetheless, the swimming workout tonight highlighted some areas that I need to improve. I hope to work on those weaknesses and perhaps sign up for a more advanced swimming lesson in the summer. Maybe I will do better in tomorrow's running workout with the club. I am always better in running.

5/31/2005 10:56:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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It is now official, I have just signed up for the Salem City Triathlon on August 7th. I will attempt to cover 0.5 miles of swimming, 13 miles of biking, and 3 miles of running. It is time for me to start toning up those major muscle groups for swimming, biking, and running.

5/26/2005 10:13:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I organized a basketball game at the Z-center earlier today. Once again, it was the usual suspects, like Yoav and Kevin, who showed up. I am beginning to feel that my SDM classmates are just too lethargic to do anything outside of class. Nonetheless, we had a few good rounds of pick-up basketballs with other students at the courts.

5/26/2005 9:58:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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While swimming at the Z center last Monday, I discovered that swimming pool in the Z center is now configured as a 50m pool in the summer. The staff moved the movable boom that usually divides the pool into several more 25m lanes.

Swimming in a 50m pool presents its own challenges. In particular, one needs to settle into rhythmic yet relaxed strokes in the 50m pool than one does with the 25m pool. Unlike last Monday when I was all out-of-sync, I settled into my strokes earlier today and was able to swim for 900m. I did cheat by putting on a pair of fins in my last 4 laps. However, I have to confess that I love the fins. Swimming with fins is not only effortless but also quite exhilarating because you go really fast with them.

5/25/2005 10:50:29 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I should not have swum those extra laps today. I am so tired from swimming that I don't have the energy to finish the assignments that are due tomorrow. I am going to take a power nap to see if it helps. This also explains today's short blog.

5/3/2005 9:38:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Swimming is now my favorite exercise. I love the feeling of tiredness and accomplishment after each swim. Most of all, swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise. I got my pool time at the Z-center where I swam 24 laps with occasional 2-5 seconds intermittent breaksearlier tonight. I have been good progress on improving my swimming. What a difference a month of lessons can do to one's swimming. It took me 26-30 strokes to swim a 25m lap a month ago. I was able to cover the same distance effortlessly wtih 18-20 strokes tonight.

4/26/2005 11:30:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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My swimming lessons have finally come to an end tonight. I am definitely swimming much better now than I did a month ago. My strokes and body movements are much more efficient. Knowing that this is my last class, I asked the instructor to coach me breaststroke. After a few drills in breaststroke, my instructor said that my breaststroke is fine but has a tip for me. She introduced me a new technique call gliding that I can use when swimming in breaststroke. Basically, the swimmer reduces the body hydrodynamics as the swimmer pushes the water to the side at the completion of the breaststroke arm movement. However, to compensate we can just extend both arms and legs straight after taking a gasp of air. This motion allows the body to glide after each stroke thereby improving the body hydrodynamics. I tried the new technique out in the pool and there was a noticeably difference in the speed. I finished the class with several lapse of a swimming medley of free-style and breaststroke. Indeed, the swimming lessons have been very rewarding.

4/22/2005 12:00:14 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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It was a great swimming session today. Unfortunately, my buddy Camille wasn't able to join me because he is home sick with Mono. Yikes! The instructor was late today but that's okay since we were twice late for her swimming lessons before. I spent the first 30 minutes of the class practicing my swimming while I wait for instructor Rachael to arrive. Already exhausted from the practice swimming, I was surprised that I still have the strength to continue swimming during class. More surprisingly, I was swimming without the pull buoy. As you can see, I tend to sink when I swim free-style and I use a pull buoy to compensate. With Rachael's advice, I stretched my hands out and forward. In addition, I decided to relax and get into a good rhythm during my swim by getting my body, hands, and legs are in sync. At the end, I was able to glide my body effortlessly through the water. Consequently, my legs were able to stay just slightly underwater and I wasn't sinking anymore. I think I finally got it. I just need to practice swimming more at the Z-center now. Yes!

Tonight, I am simply too exhausted from the swim. I still have the financials that I need to complete by tonight for the 50k competition. Sigh... There's still no rest in sight yet. Oh well, I will get my rest tomorrow night by watching a movie with Hanri. Just the mere thought of hanging out with her makes me happy.

4/14/2005 10:16:27 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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I have just received an email from our running team captain that MIT finished second overall as a team in the BC MBA 5k Race and won ourselves a case of beer. Nice!

4/10/2005 1:22:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Instead of sleeping in as I would every Saturday, I woke up at 7:15am to prepare myself for the BC MBA 5k Run. The race was fun as I get the chance to really hang out with the MBA students at Sloan.

The race started at about 10:30am. I didn't complete the race in the time that I had wanted. The uphill stretch at the end of the race had drastically slowed my pace. I finished the race in 23:10 minutes (finished 119th out of 419 runners). While MIT was not in the top 5 teams, team MIT Sloan managed to finish better than the mean. Well done Team MIT Sloan.

I overheard this while listening to a conversation between a Sloanie and a MBA student from another school. "You guys, did the Cranberry case study in your Operations class too? What do you think of the operations optimization exercise for this case?" asked an MIT Sloan student, the other MBA student responded by saying: "What system optimization, we don't do the numbers."

4/9/2005 4:31:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Because UCLA, Creighton, and LSU lost last night, I am now last in the standings. Doesn't matter, Syracuse is going win it all.

I lift weights and run regularly, but I still feel sore after last night's swim.

3/18/2005 10:06:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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So I started the swimming part of my triathlon training by attending my first swimming lesson at the MIT aquatic center. I have to say the Z-center swimming pool is one of the best indoor swimming pools I have ever swum in (but do keep in mind that I have not swum at many places). The chlorine level in the water is very low and you can tell that the pool is well-maintained from the overall cleanliness.

I have always struggled with swimming since I self-taught myself to swimming when I was younger. However, I am usually athletic enough that brute force had work well for me in the past but with the upcoming triathlon, I need more efficiency; hence my motivation for the swimming lessons to improve my swimming ability. From today's swimming drills, I think I still have a lot to work on, especially breathing, fewer strokes, and buoyancy. Right now, it takes me 26-30 strokes to swim 25m. It takes Michael Phelps, the freestyle Olympian, 12 strokes to cover the same distance. I still have a lot of strokes to reduce.

On other sports news, it looks like I am kicking ass in the SDM NCAA bracket. However, Creighton is losing to West Virginia with 2.4 seconds to go at this very moment. If Creighton loses to West Virginia, it can seriously jeopardize my No. 1 standing... And darn it (1 minute later), Creighton did lose. On the other hand, UCLA is losing too. Oh well, I got 11 out of my 13 first round picks correct so far anyway.

3/18/2005 12:04:29 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Sports