Round and round the hamster went...

I have 4 hamsters at home now. My kids hamsters. 2 of the bigger dwarf ones love the wheel. And ever so often, they would be on the wheel spinning away.


This was just like what I did in the evening today. The weather was so consuming that I decided to hold on the 21 km run till evening. I only started out on the warm up at 1815. Started to run round the track for 21km. I started while there were many people around. Groups of people came and left while I was on my way to 52.5 laps. Till almost 2015 there were only a handful of joggers around.


It was so warm and humid that even after the sun had set, I needed to refresh myself by pouring water on myself several times. And it sure felt good to have the cool water on my head, down my face and to the jersey. Was particularly careful to not get my shoes wet coz they were the new ones which I had worn to season for Challenge Cairns.


Coach had prescribed a 21km run at 5:30 pace. Worked out to be 2:12 per lap and I did just that. Some laps went down to 2:13 and 2:14 but mostly kept at 2:11-2:12. Last 600m I hastened my pace and it made up for all the lost time in the previous laps. Clocked 1:55:05. It was probably the most accurate timing for the correct distance. I may have done better before but I am sure that was a wrong distance because I relied on the Polar GPS which I had found to be highly inaccurate.


So it was an average timing only. But it would have to do. Perhaps considered as another tempo run for myself, except that this is for a longer distance of 21km. 2 more weeks of training before I start to taper I think? Yes, it is 4 weeks to Challenge Cairns.

***

Talking about elections. The opposition created a history in wrestling Aljunied GRC over from the ruling party. And the ruling party popularity decreased to 60.1%, though out of the 87 seats, 81 went to them. Statistically, it doesnt make sense but heck, that was what happened.


What do I think was the main reason for the reduction? Was it really all the reasons the citizens had voiced out? Perhaps. But likely the bulk of the reason was the information that was readily available on the internet and the social media. In the past, without the information super highway, most of the people relied on the media - both print as well as televised. With the youths more linked with the internet, word spread like wild fire.


Strikes need not take the physical form any more. Perhaps, they should be considered a thing of the past. Facebook is the incumbant threat. It is strange. I find it worrying. National issues are important, in fact too important to be challenged by the layman who have no idea the works of politics. In the past, the word that went around was that the government always wrestled the people to accept their policies. But with the change in political climate due to the social media, will the government be wrestled to the ground by the whims and fancies of the people?


Perhaps, the Chinese government was far sighted and saw the threat Facebook posed and thus shut it away from its people. Maybe they were right after all?


Then again, what do I know? I am just a layman.