DaddyDear

Didn’t really run much this week except Sunday due to many reasons (excuses).

Here’ s this week’s progress:
Mon – 4.6 4.8 km
Tue – Rest
Wed – 5.7 km Rest
Thu – Rest
Fri – Rest 3.6 km
Sat – 9.5 km Rest
Sun – 600m swimming 8 km

Total Mileage = 19.8 km 16.4 km

Here’s the training plan for next week:
Mon – Rest
Tue – 5 km
Wed – Rest
Thu – Rest
Fri – 5 km
Sat – Rest
Sun – 10 km + 500m swimming

Total Mileage = 20 km

Went to the Live Freely Grads Gathering yesterday and was introduced to this very touching and inspirational video of Team Hoyt – Dick & Rick. Rick was disabled at birth by a loss of oxygen to his brain because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, and he also suffers from cerebral palsy, a disease that causes physical disability in human development. Dick is Rick’s father, who never gave up on his son. Watch this touching video to find out more on the power of love.

Read an interesting post on micro loan that linked to Grameen Bank, a bank that provides tiny loans to “the poorest of the poor” in rural Bangladesh without any collateral. Its mission is to help the poor families to help themselves to overcome poverty. It is targeted to the poor, particularly poor women.

“It began with a simple $27 loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lent money to 42 women so they could purchase bamboo to make and sell stools. In a short time, the women were able to repay the loans while continuing to support themselves and their families. With that initial eye-opening success, the seeds of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, were planted.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided into two equal parts, to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below. Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty is an inspiring memoir of the birth of microcredit, written in a conversational tone that makes it both moving and enjoyable to read.

Living in a world where the poor has no means to borrow money other than from the loan sharks, what strikes me most is that the loan recovery rate is 98.40%, with zero collateral !!! I guess these economically poor people has better integrity than many of those who caused the sub-prime woes.

Had a great run on Saturday evening. Felt that I could run a little longer but didn’t, for fear of over-trained.

Here’s this week’s progress:
Mon – 3.8 4.2 km
Tue – Rest
Wed – 5.7 Rest
Thu – Rest 4.8 km
Fri – 7.6 Rest
Sat – Rest 8.8 km
Sun – 800m 500m swimming

Total Mileage = 17.1 17.8 km

Here’s the training plan for next week:
Mon – 4.6 km
Tue – Rest
Wed – 5.7 km
Thu – Rest
Fri – Rest
Sat – 9.5 km
Sun – 600m swimming

Total Mileage = 19.8 km

IE Tab is a great tool for Firefox user who needs to access web pages from within, that can run properly only with IE, e.g. MSN Stock Screener & MSN Stock Research Wizard. As the add-on name implies, you can open the specific website in a Firefox tab by right-clicking on the link and select “Open Link in IE Tab”. Have fun.