Yeah well....

It just goes to show. No blog post, misdirectional e mail only sent out at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday morning, but we have our biggest non-Malaysian inflated turnout in months including the return of several much missed harriets... well Japong and Useless Whitney anyway.

And what a run they had.. or didn't have as the case maybe. As the smiling faces of the slightly reduced pack (the rest of them had mysteriously eloped with Only a Yolk for the "medium run") as they almost made it to the top of the second hill show, everybody enjoyed it... well almost everybody; Stick Insect didn't 'cos he'd got a swollen foot and couldn't run... and there were bits of it that those who did, didn't much enjoy 'cos there was a weird loop in the middle where the paper went all freaky which chief hare Only a Yolk put down to Roadrunner talking too much. But we all got our money's worth: 1 hour 45 for 60 Baht. Sounds like a good deal to me but then I was a technical advisor so I'm biased. OK I was a hare; but I blame it on Yardo's GPS which actually behaved impeccably for the n^th week in a row. In fact it has been such a frequent hare this year that it's about time we named it!


Anyway, here's the graphic that shows where we went, or didn't as the freaky loop has been edited a bit to show where we should have gone if we hadn't gone where we did, if you see what I mean (am I beginning to sound confused?)



Anyway, Yardo's trusty implement recorded this at about 8k which with the extra stuff we did because Roadrunner talks too much (apparently!) probably means we did about 10k all told.

Does this count as a write-up?

WTF?

Hope you're on the mailing list coz otherwise you're on your own finding today's hash!

(But it was something about 7.5km down the NYR.)

Unclean Full Moon beach party and run: updated

This month's Full Moon run will be tomorrow (Thursday, 23rd September) and in contrast to the amazing healthy municipality's plans for the weekend, will be an unclean affair featuring lots of flat wet stuff and lots of wet alcoholic stuff afterwards. But the runsite will be on the beach so there'll be some salty wet stuff to dump the hares in afterwards if you feel that way inclined!
Misdirections are:
Hatyai Full Moon Hash run #70: Thursday September 23rd 2010: 7:00 p.m. 'ish
Hares: R2D2 and Moo Sahb/Only a Yolk
Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng intersection take the old Yala road for about 2.7k to the first set of traffic lights (i.e. the ones before the zoo turn) and turn left. Go about 400 meters until you hit the beach road then turn right and go 200 metes to the run site on the left.
Usual stuff: Bring a handlight; bring some food if you feel like it and bring beer if you want to share it, or buy Full Moon special brew at 100 Baht for 3 cans.

This weekend's outstation run: anyone need a map?

Above is the definitive map of the route to Raisomboon Palm complete with distances, for the optically gifted. I'll attach the pdf to the usual e mail this week but if anyone doesn't get it and needs it, just add a comment to this blog and I'll get it to you. If anyone has a GPS and can download a gdb file, that is also available and will be attached to the e mail.

For those who prefer their misdirections verbally:

SH3 run #1528, Saturday 18th September 2010.
Run time: 3:30 p.m.'ish.

Hares: Egghead, Only a Yolk and Roadrunner

Misdirections: From the Ko Yo intersection take the new Hatyai road for 24k and turn right onto Highway 4. Go 21k and turn left at the Khu Ha junction onto the 406 signposted to Satun. Go 43k and turn right at the traffic lights just before Tesco Lotus (i.e. if you pass Tesco you've gone too far!) and follow the 4137 for 10k then turn right and follow the road for 13k to the Raisomboon Palm homestay on the left.

Late registrations are still OK as there is plenty of accommodation at the resort. But some warning would be nice so that we can cater for beer etc. Run fees are still 250B for active runners, 700 B for returners and guests which covers at least one run (short/long, so you can do two if you are really fanatical) and Kayaking on Sunday morning; all the softies and beer you can drink, dinner and entertainment on Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday.

For those staying overnight on Friday, the cost for non-beer drinkers will be 300 Baht including a modest dinner on Friday and breakfast on Saturday with a 200 Baht beer levy for those intending to top up their alcohol level before Saturday's run. There will be a BBQ available so if you want to raise the food stakes from modest to sumptuous then bring something for the Barbie.

Quite a lot of people are going on Friday but there will be some cars travelling down on Saturday so anyone who needs a lift on either day should contact ...err... Only a Yolk or Egghead who seem to know roughly what is happening (but don't count on it!).

On! On!

A run worth coming back from Cambodia for

...or Indonesia or anywhere that a lonely displaced hasher might happen to find himself. Come on! You know it makes sense. Abandon these crazy dreams of making a fortune and come back to:

SH3 run # 1527, Saturday September 11, 2010: 4:30 p.m.

Hares: Stick Insect and Egghead and some doggies.

Misdirections: From the Kao Saeng intersection take the old Yala road for 4.3k and turn right for 1.2k to the run site near the reservoir.

Sunday's HH3 run is being set by Sexy Pig. From Songkhla take the New Yala road for 7k and turn right. Go 1k and look for a sign. From Hatyai, take the old Songkhla road and turn right at the Kuan Hin traffic lights then go about 3.5k and take the road straight ahead (effectively turn left) as the road bends to the right. Go about 1k and look for signs.

JUST A REMINDER! The SH3 outstation run at the Rai Somboon Palm Home-stay near Khuan Kalong in Satun will take place the following weekend, 18th/19th September. For 250 Baht regular runners will get accommodation, food (dinner/breakfast and lunch on Sunday), beer, entertainment and at least one run, with kayaking on Sunday morning. Guests are welcome at 700 Baht'ish (which is what the resort are charging us, so the rest of the goodies are being thrown in free). We need to know this weekend if you are intending to come as we have to be able to commit to the resort on Monday of next week. Also, quite a few people have indicated that they will be going down to spend Friday night at the resort as well. No idea of cost at the moment but if you feel like an extra night of ...entertainment... let Only a Yolk know this weekend and we will let you know the cost by Monday evening.

Life after Songkhla

Then: Dungbeetle frolics with his usual gaggle of female admirers. But was he getting any?

It didn't even take a "No More Dungbeetle in Songkhla" t-shirt. DB has left us for the greener pastures of Don Sak or Khanom or wherever it is that his ex-Samui mates hang out. And, judging by a recent email, he's enjoying it just fine.

Now: He's gettin' it!

This Weekend's Monsters

Obsessively perfectionist, painstakingly accurate, unfailingly determined to achieve excellence, Yardstick corrects a glaring error in Tutti Fruity's laying technique and offers gentle guidance to tomorrow's co-hare.

A big weekend in prospect, with tomorrow's SH3 run hosting a big group of visitors from Penang International H3 who will also be going On! On! after in Songkhla. Then on Sunday they will all be going to to join the Sadao H3 run in Dannock details of which appear below and Hatyai H3 will also join the run in Sadao.

Misdirections for Saturday? Well, as the apocryphal Irishman said "If I was going to be going there, I wouldn't be starting from here!"

Officially: Songkhla Hash House Harriers run #1526, Saturday 4th September, 2010; 4:30 p.m.

Hares: Yardstick and Tutti Fruity

From Songkhla: From the Ko Yo intersection take the old Hatyai road for 4.6k and turn left. Go 6k and turn left at the crossroads then go 4k to the run site on the right.

From Hatyai: From The Ko Hong Intersection take the old Songkhla road for 6k and turn right at the traffic lights at Nam Noi. Go 10k to the run site on the right.

The following section of this post is subject to a nerd-averse warning.

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU LIKE A SIMPLE LIFE WITHOUT DIFFICULT DECISIONS!

BUT..... If you're coming from Songkhla and you know how to get to the big tree from the old Yala road (via either the 14k or 16k right turn offs) then the run site is about 1.8k beyond the big tree in the direction of Nam Noi, on the left hand side. OR... even shorter, take the 11.5k turning off the old Yala road ( just before Tung Wang) ; go 4.6k, joining the road coming down from Khao Ron, then turn right when you hit the Nam Noi-Tung Wang road, and the run site is 1k up on the left.

The poster would like to make it clear that he inserted the foregoing section while under the influence of an overwhelming desire to be obsessively perfectionist, painstakingly accurate and unfailingly determined to achieve excellence and that the views expressed do not represent the views of the Hares, the GM, or the bleedin' committee.

To stretch or not to stretch

From today's New York Times:

Should you stretch before a run? That question, which has prompted countless academic studies, debates and inter-running-partner squabbles, is now at the heart of a notable new study published in August on the Web site of USA Track and Field, the sport’s national governing body. The study, one of the largest of its kind, involved almost 1,400 runners, from age 13 to past 60, who were assigned randomly to two groups. The first group did not stretch before their runs, while otherwise maintaining their normal workout routine: the same mileage, warm-up (minus any stretching) and so on. The second group stretched, having received photographs and specific instructions for a series of simple, traditional poses, like leaning over and touching toes, that focused on the calf, hamstring and quadriceps muscles. The volunteers were told to hold each stretch for 20 seconds, a technique known as static stretching. The entire routine required three to five minutes and was to be completed immediately before a run.

The volunteers followed their assigned regimens for three months. Predictably, since running, as a sport, has a high injury rate, quite a few became injured during the three months. About 16 percent of the group that didn’t stretch were hobbled badly enough to miss training for at least a week (the researchers’ definition of a running injury), while about 16 percent of the group that did stretch were laid up for at least a week. The percentages, in other words, were virtually identical. Static stretching had proved to be a wash in terms of protecting against injury. It “neither prevented nor induced injury when compared with not stretching before running,” the study’s authors concluded, raising the obvious corollary, so why in the world do so many of us still stretch?

See the rest of article here. Or if you can't be bothered, here's the conclusion: "An ideal preworkout routine consists of a very easy warm-up, followed by a gradual increase in intensity and then dynamic stretching." (And if you don't understand "dynamic stretching", well, see the article.)