Updates Updates!

I've been busy as a bee the past couple of weeks...not actually doing anything by way of exercise, but just running around like a headless chicken - meeting up with people from out-of-town, attending end-of-year work events (well, that was just one actually) so on and so forth.

In the midst of all the festivities, I managed to squeeze in a 25K bike ride with R on Sunday after eating waaaay too much and drinking even more over the Christmas period. I'd previously checked out Kit Runners at East Coast (everyone keeps recommending it and I can see why!) and found their bikes well-maintained and for just 20 bucks, I can get a pretty decent bike. I know at some point of time I really should get my act together and go out and buy myself a bike, but I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm going to be that BIG on cycling and a bike is a pretty big investment...bigger than my windsurfing gear which is now collecting dust in storage!

Also, just a quick update on the 50K walk. From the estimated distances put out, it was more 55K than 50K. But whatever the case, we didn't finish it. It was 10.30pm, we had walked close to 45k and I was starting to limp whilst Gina was taking baby steps. Rach, the hero of us 3 (and a living example of why wearing high heels and standing for long hours in them actually builds hardy walking muscles), was the only one still standing and walking normally at the end. I threw in the towel there and then. It's one thing to be tired and walking another 10K...a whole other thing to know that at the speed you're walking (limping/crawling) at, 10k would take another 4 hours if you're lucky....So we all bailed and jumped into a cab home and G and I couldn't walk properly for 2 days after. But my memory for pain, I've since discovered, is really short and I really want to try this again sometime. My dad and R go on about how in theory we all failed because we didn't go the full way, but I'm pretty damn proud of us girls for doing what we did. Let the boys say what they want, they didn't do the walk!


PS: R got me a Garmin Forerunner 405 for Christmas! Here's to super accurate distance tracking in future!

Let's Take a Walk

Pray for us! Gina, Rachel and I are going to walk the big 5-0 tomorrow. I'll let you know if we're all still friends if we haven't killed each other after more than 12 hours together!

http://www.letstakeawalk.sg/

F1 Sports EQ Nature Run 2010 - F1 Sports Equipment

F1 Sports EQ Nature Run 2010 - F1 Sports Equipment

Looks interesting enough...save the earth whilst running...woot!

I Wussed Out of My Half Marathon

and I don't even feel all that bad. R tried to give me grief, but I wasn't even looking forward to the race so his grief-giving failed! Hah!

I'm really proud of him for finishing the full marathon with zero training for the past couple of weeks and whilst nursing a injured calf. If anything could make me feel a teeny tiny bit bad, it'd be the fact that R ran a distance longer than I was supposed to run injured and completed the whole darn thing. He's a rockstar!

I'm Tired

I've spent a lot of the past 2 weeks freaking out about the half marathon and as if to subconsciously get it out of my mind I've gone off and substituted tennis for running. Real genius huh? So essentially the half mary's in less than 48 hours time and I am completely unprepared. I have been doing a lot of thinking about training if that amounts to anything, but actually getting my act together and going out and running has not materialised so much. I did, however manage to squeeze in a run yesterday night...and it was torture....and that run wasn't even 21k! It was just half of that and I felt like lying down and dying when I was done.

Lately I just feel unsettled. I'm all over the place and I've no idea why. I think I just need a couple of 'me days'. I know it sounds lame, but all the thinking about running constantly takes a toll on you. Especially since I just spend half the time feeling guilty because my flesh often times trumps my spirit and my flesh is very very weak. I keep making plans and then not following through on them and if my running training is an indication on how things are in my life (and trust me, it's a pretty good indication), it just shows how bleak things are. Things just seem to be happening with me being completely taken unaware and I just don't feel like I have any control over my life anymore!

I think what I really really need is just one day for me. Just to hang out by myself with a good book and cheeky glass of vino and not have any plans to meet anyone or do anything. I'm just mentally and emotionally weary now and having one day to myself to gather all my thoughts and plans seems like a beautiful beautiful idea. I'm planning to do that very very soon. Maybe after this Sunday's half marathon and the wedding I've to go for after.

Hongkie Konks

My trip to Hong Kong went pretty well. The conference was rather interesting and I learnt a bit more about the regulations relating to capital markets (yawn....yes I know). I also rediscovered the Shangri-La. Hah!

I managed to squeeze a run in with Jimbo and Steph on Wednesday evening and it was fun to catch up over exercise. We weren't speedy (considering some old dood lapped us 3 times!) and we didn't run that far, but I enjoyed the run immensely...well, except for our 'warm-up' which consisted of climbing up a gazillion flights of stairs! The weather in Hong Kong's been pretty chilly, which made running oh so comfortable. I think I've been pretty spoilt by good running weather in that I just feel sad and miserable when it's warm out...which is pretty much every other day in Singapore!

Because of the nice cool weather in Hong Kong, I managed to convince the family to go trekking on Dragon's Back. We took so darn long getting to the top that we ended up doing only the short route. But the view was as good as it always has been and I'm so proud of my folks for doing the trek up!

What I've done:
Wednesday: Ran 5.77K in 48:08 minutes
Friday: Trekked 4.94K in 2 hr 08 minutes

Off to Hong Kong

And I'm hoping to fit in a run with Jimbo and Steph whilst I'm there!

Half Mary Training Weary

I know I'm planning to run more than I'm actually running, but I really am sick of having a half marathon looming up and having to think about when to run and having to feel bad when I don't run! Bah!

My New Shoes, a 4k Run and a 1k Walk

This is a bit late, but I got new shoes two weeks ago. My trusty Asics Landreths have carried me through numerous races and got me through a 10 miler as well...but the cushioning was starting to wear out and my legs were giving me grief each time I ran. So I now I have a pair of shiny silver Asics. Nimbus this time and I bought Sole insoles because I was just tired of not having any arch support.

I trudged down to Feder Sports again to get Jeremy's take on what sort of shoe I needed this time and was kind of put off when he brought out my very 'bling' pair of Asics. I mean, I'm not a super speedy runner as it is, BUT going out running with these shiny, shiny shoes was just yelling at people to look at how slow I was was! I have to put pictures of my shoes up soon. They're super white - I look like a total non-runner, and shiny silver - space cadet, BUT the cushioning...oh the cushioning. It's like running on air. If I could just get Asics to design a more aesthetically pleasing shoe and make the shoe just a wee bit lighter, this shoe'd be heaven. As it is, running in it has been rather enjoyable....till last night.

My plans to do a 7k run got shot down about 100m into my run last night. Firstly, the weather wasn't great. I know I go on and on about running weather and I sound like a spoilt little child throwing a tantrum, but it really is depressing running when everything around is so darn hot! Secondly, my legs started aching pretty early into the run. I probably should have given them another day's rest (cross train!) instead of running again. Ah well, I guess I'll try to fit a swim in sometime soon and get a run in before the week's done. Anyhow, I did 4 miserable km yesterday and to make myself feel better, rounded that off with a 1k brisk-ish walk.

What I did last night:
"Ran" 4k in 33 mins
Walked 1k in 11 mins

An Easy 13k

Ever since I've bought my compression pants I haven't really used them a great deal. I wore them in Manchester when I did a run there and (if I remember) to sleep after a hard run. The truth is I look like I'm trying too hard when I wear them. And that's a big deal for a gear head like me to admit. However, now that I'm trying to cut down muscle recovery time in between longer runs (and for me that's anything over 10k) I figured I'd wear them under my shorts when I do my longer runs. The problem with that is the laughing. I had a bunch of colleagues laugh and make stupid jokes about my "leg warmers" yesterday. The same colleagues who don't run at all, much less complete a 10k. Well, that's my consolation, but it still sucks being laughed at.

Anyhoo, I'm finally back on the saddle and I got a 13k under my belt yesterday. It's moments like yesterday that I'm so so sure my God exists! R says that God has better things to do than listen to prayers that are lame, but I've always felt that God is a God of big AND little things and that He's capable and wants to hear everything. Long story short, I prayed for good running weather last night (on top of world peace etc etc) and it was the best running weather I've had in a long long time - I think probably since the Yellow Ribbon Run! Nice little drizzle so it wasn't too hot and no thunder or lightning!

I took a different route home this time because I wanted to go a bit longer and the change was good. It was a bit more challenging because of that short little stretch up Fort Canning hill, but overall I had fun. I'm saying that probably because, again, the weather was just great.

The compression pants worked too because today my legs aren't aching too crazily. They're tired, but I guess that's to be expected. My hip, however, is hurting a lot, which means it's time to google how to sort that. I think they should make a special search engine just for hypochondriacs.

What I did last night
Ran 13k in 1 hr 48 minutes

Wasted Weekend

And a very colossal waste it was. I had friends from out of town down in Singapore so I spent Friday to Sunday entertaining. I ate way too much rich food, drank way too much beers and did absolutely zero running. I did, however, plan numerous times to go running only to lame out. The body no longer recovers as quickly after a mad night out. Ah...a clear sign the big 3-0 is on its way!

Interrupted by Lightning

Since my 'race' on Sunday I've been taking things a bit too easy, so last night my aim was to do a steady 12. I ended up doing 7.99k (which is irritating because it isn't a round number) thanks to the sheet lightning. I can do rain, but I ain't gonna mess with Madam Lightning out there. Ducked into a cab and got home before it started pouring. Welcome back, Monsoon Season!

What I did:
Ran 7.99k in 1 hr 1 min

Great Eastern Women 10k Race Report

It's been a whole year since I've done this race! And this year G and I didn't do so well. G has been studying really hard for her bar exam and hasn't had time to train while I still can't get rid of that persistent lingering cough and well I've also been really lazy. Nonetheless I decided at the beginning of the race that it was unlikely I was going to break my PR (much less finish the race in under 1 hour) so I'd take it easy and treat it as another 10k. G's aim was to just complete the run without walking (actually her aim was to run 5k, walk the other and finish in 2 hours...which frankly I was not going to let her do!) so we both ran together at an easy pace. Well, a far too easy pace, I reckon, because we managed to chat the entire 10k and I had energy to run around a lot asking people if they had extra tissue paper for me to blow my dripping nose. Yeah, my nose was acting up yesterday.

All in, I rather enjoyed the GE race. Not because it was a particularly fantastic race per se (although I don't have anything to complain about for a change! big wow!) but because it actually was rather fun catching up with Gina while running (exercise!) at the same time. I'm not saying that I'll give up the joy of catching up with a good mate over a beer, but catching up while running comes pretty close.

Race time: 1:24:45 (a far far cry from my 1:09:47 last year)

R and I went off to the Singapore Open because Rinaldo scored us some course tickets. It actually turned out to be a pretty fun day, despite me getting a bit too much sun. I thought it'd be boring as hell, but it wasn't as slow as I thought it'd be and, minus my tired legs and crazy heat, the combination of beers and golf go very very well. Next year I'm going dressed properly though - definitely wearing clothes with wicking material so I wouldn't be a big sopping mess like I was this year (pretty picture, isn't it?)

What I've done since the last entry but been too lazy to write down:
Monday last week: 6.85k
Wednesday last week: Intervals 4 X 400m

Nike+ Human Race 10K Race Report

If I had to give an award this year for different races, the Nike race would win the prize of 'Most Gimmicky Race'. From the bit where everyone HAD to run the race wearing the same T-shirt that had your race number (ie, you're Number 359,128 amongst all the million runners in the world - they had a separate race number for each country's individual race which makes the whole 'world number' kind of lame) emblazoned on it to the finisher's medal...not really a medal but a Nike arm band which I'm sure many many people will be wearing in the days to come as a whole 'guess what I got this from the Nike 10K run I completed'...to the really annoying local rock bands they brought up to entertain the crowd (you know that 'look at how how open we are to different kinds of music because we've got the whole ipod thing going').

Maybe it's because I had a crappy run that's why I'm being hard on the Nike run, because other than their completely crap website and lack of email notifications, the actual run itself was pretty well organised. I had some crap time (no idea what the actual time is since the Nike website sucks and I can't access it) because well, I haven't been doing much by way of running for a long while now, plus the tons of unhealthy food I've been shoving down my throat can't have helped. I had a side stitch pretty early on the race and had to stop to walk about 4k in because my chest felt tight, and my legs just felt miserable. R was actually being nice and running with me (poor chap had to take tiny little strides) at the beginning, but I fell so far behind he had to leave me in the dust about midway through.

So I've come to the conclusion that next year I'm going to save me some moolah and not do any Mizuno or Nike runs. The thing is I really don't see why I should pay all this money (these races are pretty pricey) when I don't really need the free goodie bag (which isn't 'free' seeing as you're paying more for these races than any regular race). I know a lot of locals run for the race pack and all the freebies in it, but frankly I'd rather have the money I put into a race go to a good cause then another t-shirt or water-bottle or backpack.

Race Time: 1hr 22 mins (as per my watch which I forgot to turn off till I had my post-race drink - Nike website sucks!!!!)

What I did yesterday:
1hr in the gym working the core

A Very Easy 7k

After much lounging around, excuses followed by pangs of guilt, I finally laced up my runners and hauled my KFC-filled body out on the roads. I'm quite happy I did that. Okay, so it wasn't a huge distance, nor was it anything close to speedy. But, it was me finally climbing out of the lazy rut and a run is a run at the end of the day.

Surprisingly, post-run I actually felt (and still feel) pretty good. I suspect that previously I was over-working myself with all the running, muay thai, swimming training, pilates etc. My muscles didn't actually have time to heal and I was getting to a stage where running was becoming more a drag than something I at least looked forward to. Moral of the story, I'm going to be a bit more sensible going forward and do things in a bit more moderation. All things going well, I'll have no more bouts of illness or injuries for a while!

What I did last night:
Ran 7k in 51mins

AM running

So far of the one million times I've tried waking up early in the morning to run, I have succeeded a grand total of 1 time and it probably was a fluke I was up that early anyway. I was supposed to be up to do an easy 4k - 5k this morning but when the alarm went off at 6am the excuses started - I'll sleep another 5 minutes/I can run during lunch/I can run after work/I'm too dehydrated to run this early...blah blah blah. So now I have to run during lunch because I didn't wake up early enough to run. Better yet, despite sleeping the extra 1 hour, I still feel tired, which makes me feel as if I should have just woken up and run the damn 4k.

Big plans to wake up at 6am tomorrow and try this again. Wish me luck.

Last note: I've just discovered how ridiculously easy to fall back into the lazy cycle. I've been ill for the past week and have sat on my ass eating fried chicken and other similarly unhealthy meals. I also haven't been doing anything close to exercise. And somehow, while there's a little part of me that feels guilty, I'm actually pretty happy being lazy for the most part.

Salomon X-Trail / Tinny Run Reports - ish

Thanks to the lovely cough that's keeping me up most nights, I decided to give the Salomon X-Trail Run a skip and go down as a supporter. R did the muddy, hilly run and enjoyed it, which made me kind of bummed that I was too sick to take part. Bah. I have some pictures somewhere.

As for the Tinny Run, maaaan....I dropped out of that. Firstly it was unlikely I was going to be any better than I was in the morning (where I skipped the Salomon Run) and secondly, running with a tummy full of beer, SHEER MADNESS! R did pretty well and got held back by the big spoil- sport, essentially me. He has plans to train me well in the art of downing cans of beer and running madly after. Good luck to him.

Meanwhile, I'm still coughing away and I am so behind in training and fitness. Tonight I'll do a little core training, just to ease my guilty conscience.

On the Brink of Illness

I've been feeling a bit out of it lately. Been really sleepy and I've got an annoying cough to boot. I've decided also to be sensible and take the next two days off running/muay thai etc. Sigh, what a bummer.

What I did yesterday:
Swim training for 1 hour

I Woke Up At 6am!

And did a 6.5k run!

What I've done:
Friday: Ran 11k in 1:27 hr
Saturday: 1hr of pilates (Tower)
Today: Ran 6.5k in 50:18min - Yeah, the time's crap, but it was some insane hour of the morning!)

Reebok Pink Ribbon Walk - Women 5k Competitive Run Race Report

The Pink Ribbon Run/Walk was actually pretty well organised and also for a good cause. I did this race purely to find out what my 5k time was and I have to say I'm rather disappointed. I don't think it's a great time at all. I know I started way too fast and then I was struggling to maintain the idiotic speed I started at; then I spotted a friend walking around and decided to use that as an excuse to rest some (I stopped mid-race and went over to her say hi); then I managed to start again at a slower pace...and that essentially was my race. Needless to say my second 2.5k was faster than my 1st split (because I didn't have anyone to say 'hello' to) and because I somehow managed to find some reserve deep within me and dash the last 100m. I'm proud to say that my pace then was 3:28min/km...and that essentially is all I'm proud of in the entire race.

My personal timing aside, the race was at East Coast Park (which I hate running in so much) and it was just 5k of mind-numbingly dull flat road. Everything went smoothly - there really is nothing much one can say about a 5k run, since it really is just 5k at the end of the day.

More interesting than the race, is my 25k evening bike ride which was a real kick-ass (or crotch) workout. A couple of us joined Terra Outdoor for their Mid-Autumn Festival Western Connect Ride from Ghim Moh to Jurong freaking Bird Park! Okay, we didn't cycle all that fast and it was more a leisurely ride than anything else, but it was fun all the same!

Race Time: 30:28 mins (new PB!) - First split: 15:56 mins, Second split: 14:32 mins

What I did:
Saturday: 25k bike ride

My First Tempo Run

was pretty good fun but sure took a lot out of me! I think I may have run too fast in the middle and then having to hold that pace was sheer torture. All in, this run made me realise how easy I've been taking my runs. I've essentially become so used to running at my grandmother's pace that pushing myself harder has become a foreign concept.

What I did
Wednesday: 25 minute Tempo Run

Swim Training

Last night I went for swim training at the Club again and I must say I'm enjoying it more and more each week. You see, by nature I'm really really lazy, which means the moment something aches a teeny tiny bit, I stop. Because in my head that means I've worked hard - You'll only understand how that translates out if you're as lazy as I am.

We did pull a whole bunch of drills - kick drills (leg burn!), backstroke drills, breast stroke drills etc - and wrapped the whole thing up with two mad sets (the coach took pity on me, everyone else did 4 sets) of sprint intervals. I was panting like a dog at the end of it, but it felt goooood!

What I did:

Monday: Ran 9.5k in 1hr 10 mins
Yesterday: 1hr swim training

Running Philosopher - Running with Music

A friend of mine has just lately started running as a philosophical experience. He had also just finished reading Murakami's 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running' and decided to dust off his running shoes (You can read his account here).

I've been for a couple of races with him, (which despite him not running at all before, still managed to beat me hands down!) and have had quite a bit of fun. I won't quite say that he's any replacement for G as my favourite race buddy yet (for one, he's too darn fast for someone who doesn't train!) but it's been interesting. He's asked me before what I think about when I run and I had to tell him the truth - the only thing in my head is that continuous whiny voice in my head going on about another different part of me that aches.

The thing is though, that isn't entirely true. I've become so used to slagging off running (in a kind of experienced, nonchalant 'the pain and I are one' way) that I neglect to mention that there are times, certainly not all the time, that my mind wanders off and the run goes by in a rather pleasant flash. In the past year, I've become the kind of runner that has become way too reliant on my Ipod. If I forget to bring my music in to work, I'll start my run thinking it's going to be dull and boring. This really doesn't make any sense since half the time I'm listening to the same 5 songs over and over again when I run. I hate uploading songs into my Ipod and I only had the patience to upload 5 CDs before I called it a day. The irony of it is that I only listen to 1 of those CDs, and even then I only listen to 5 songs on that one CD. So it really can't be that the music is entertaining me. On a normal day I don't even like listening to music all that much! Maybe I need the noise to distract that voice in my head that shouts out which joint hurts. Or maybe I've become lazy about going to church and this is the one time I can fit in a huge powerful worship session.

The times I do forget to bring my Ipod, I start the run with a sense of dread - how am I going to go through a whole long run without music? But ironically enough, those runs have been the runs where the voice in my head isn't as active. Last week I forgot to bring my Ipod, for instance, and I got through the run pretty fine. I also tailed this random guy who became my pacer (and my pseudo running buddy) about half the way, but that's another story.

So the aim of my long long rambling post? I think from now on, I'm going to try to ditch the Ipod sometimes. I won't give up my powerful worship sessions altogether, but I'll try to go music-less at least once a week. Running with music just makes me all too aware of the whining in my head...you know, because I'm trying to shut it out therefore subconsciously I know it's there blah blah...

For all the stuff I was too lazy to put down last week:

Tuesday: 1hr Swim Training
Wednesday: Ran 6.02k in 46:38 mins
Thursday: 1hr Climbing
Friday: Ran 2.98k in 21:06mins
Saturday: 1hr Pilates

Hello Side Stitch My Old Friend

I've come to talk with you again...Why oh why are you back?!?!? I guess it was probably my fault dragging you out of oblivion by having a bit too many glasses of wine, too little sleep and not enough food. Was it the curry I ate the night before? Was it because I felt a bit thirsty before I headed off for what was supposed to be a 5k run before you came by and reduced it to a pathetic 2k run? Please reply me and tell me how to send you back to your happy place so that I can return to mine!

Mizuno Wave Run Race Report

Coming on the heels of the very well-organised Yellow Ribbon Run, yesterday's race was one of the more disappointing races I've done this year(the other would be the Mizuno Mt Faber Run...now does anyone spot a pattern?). The usual Mizuno screw-ups include the lack of signs stating how far you've run (if that was the only thing wrong, I could probably live with that, since I figure this 'need' is more a result of being spoilt by the Yellow Ribbon Run); no roads were shut, so we had to stop at every single traffic light; one water stop (there were only 4 in a 16k race) ran out of water (definite no-no!); the run was NOT 16k; and the race marshals didn't bother to stay till the end of the race, so the last runners were lost and people like me had to give them directions to the end.

It was so poorly put together that I don't know why they bother to do 3 races every year. In fact I don't know how they can organise 3 races annually and still not learn that they need to provide more water...this is the 2nd Mizuno race this year that has run out of water and well...I think it's going to be the last Mizuno race I take part in. I don't see how they can charge someone 45 bucks for a crappy race. And not a single cent of that goes to a good cause!

Grumbling about the race aside, I was a wreck after the race and my foot ached. Somehow the human body seems able to take up to a certain amount of running before everything falls apart. Parts that never used to hurt, hurt so much and I've managed to get my under arms chafed from the constant abrasion of my shirt seam! BUT beyond all the pain, I did 16k! And somehow that makes all the aches and pains feel just that little bit more worthwhile.

Race Time: 2:26:39 hours

Welcome Back Bruises

Guess what I did yesterday?

If you've guessed Muay Thai, you'd be correct. I look like some battered wife.

What I did yesterday:

1hr of ass-kicking, back-breaking Muay Thai

The Next Level

I did a 12k run yesterday and it was hard. It was also the furthest I've run in my life, somehow though I didn't feel that giant sense of accomplishment I get after hitting new milestones. I suspect it's because I knew that I stopped a million times at petrol stations and convenience stores to use the washroom or get a drink. It's pathetic I know, 12k and all of a sudden my bladder goes nuts. Good luck to me at the half marathon. Hopefully my bladder will be well-trained by then.

My right hip is aching today for some reason and the legs are tired, but not overly sore, so I guess on the whole I might actually be able to manage the 16k race this Sunday. I probably won't be the speediest person there, but hopefully I'll finish it in a respectable time.

What I've done:
Monday: Swim drills 1hr
Tuesday: Pilates 1hr
Yesterday: Ran 12k in 1hr 35 mins

The Yellow Ribbon Prison Run Race Report

I left the house yesterday in the middle of a spell of thunder, lightning and crap loads of rain and I thought 'Bummer, another race cancelled'. But the race took place far east of the island and thankfully the sky was just overcast and all it let loose was a slight drizzle. Which made for fantastic run weather...which is very rare in Singapore.

Gina (my good ole running buddy) wasn't too keen on waking up at stupid o'clock in the morning to travel from one end of the island to another, so I basically passed her race tag to Mun...who's a guy. He ran the entire run with a girl's tag and informed us proudly of his strategy to duck behind someone every time he saw cameras. So, sorry Gina, there probably isn't going to be any pictures of 'you'.

The Yellow Ribbon Prison Run was surprisingly well organised for an inaugural run. Everything ran smoothly (although I have a feeling there was something up with the guys' baggage drop...not my concern since it didn't affect me!) and the distance was nicely marked out each kilometre of the way. The route was rather on the tough side though...up and down and up and down and....that pretty much was the entire route. All in, it was pretty damn grueling. The run ended with a downhill run for about 1 k...which I dashed down...only to have my heart plummet to the very pits of my stomach when at the bottom of that you're faced squarely with a nice slope...not too far but pretty much guaranteed to wipe out the last iota of energy in you.

I got home and crashed for 2 hours. For some reason I was totally wiped out. Waking up ridiculously early coupled with a hard 10k just killed me. Still I made it up in time to collect my race pack for the 16k run next week and watch R at his hockey game. Roll on Mizuno Wave Run!

Race Time: 01:03:37 hours (new PB!)

Running

I had grandiose plans to do a 15k run on Wednesday, but that more or less got thrown out the window the moment I started my run and every joint hurt. I managed to get a 10k in which more or less throws my training plans out of whack. Well sort of...I'm going to try to fit a 5k run in tomorrow and have a nice pilates session and then it's the Yellow Ribbon Run on Sunday morning at the other end of the island...

Hai Yah!

I ache. As I always do after Muay Thai. I ache so much. My knuckles ache, arms ache, my back aches, my shoulder aches...ache ache ache....whine whine whine. We had Rob in last night's lesson and he's really tough on the class. I'd say he was a real meanie, but out of class he's actually pretty nice. He was hard as nails last night though. Numerous 2 min speed boxing sets, endless amounts of push-ups and sit-ups. I think at one point my left arm actually went numb and I couldn't feel it at all. Although, in spite of all this, during the class itself, the boys were bigger whingers than the girls. So HAH! the girls rule.

Swimming training tonight and my arms really don't feel up to it!

What I did last night:
1 hr Muay Thai training

Weekend Recap

I was supposed to do a race on Sunday, and I slept early the night before and woke up feeling great, only to have the race completely rained out. So that's 3 races in a row that I haven't done now. Although, yesterday's race wasn't really my fault. In the end, G and I ran back to our respective homes in the miserable rain and whilst it wasn't a 12k race, I'm pretty happy that I did something in the end.

Saturday was a complete wash because James (my dinner buddy) and I had our monthly dine-out on Friday and succeeded in finishing a bottle of wine. Each. R didn't do much better himself since he was off on a nice little wine event (that dragged on the whole day) and was pretty much as plastered, if not more plastered than I was. Nonetheless, we both managed to drag ourselves out to lead the Alumni Running Club in a 5k walk. He was retching the entire way while I don't think my head stopped spinning at any one time in the walk!

What I did since I last posted:
Wednesday: Ran 10k
Thursday: 1 hr swim training
Friday: Proceeded to make Saturday a complete waste of a day
Saturday: 5k walk in the Botanical Gardens
Sunday: Ran 7k

The Familiar Aches

of Muay Thai! I thought it was going to be a wuss class on Monday. I mean, I'm tough right? Not so. My wings, my forearms and my upper arms are in such agony...and mind you this is a good 2 days after my session. Little secret? I'm kind of liking it. I've missed the burn and the feeling that I've whipped my pretty little ass into shape. Makes me feel hard core. I'm sure I've mentioned that millions of times. The thing with MT (which I wasn't so big on at first) is that I'm doing things that, left in a gym by myself, I probably wouldn't do. I don't think I'd do as many sit-ups or push-ups. Nor would I work my arms till burning point. I'd usually just stop the moment my arms ache just a wee bit and then come to a grinding stop, pat myself on the back and feel happy that I've 'worked-out'. Yes, I don't actually push myself at all.

Yesterday's pilates wasn't so pretty. I don't think it was the hardest class I've been for, but everything was just screaming in pain and I was struggling to do any of the arm work. I think I need to give those arms a break for a couple of days....well, till Thursday since I plan to make swim training at the club!

Meanwhile, I'm putting in a 10k run tonight. If I don't get lazy and stop half way like I did last week.

What I've done:
Monday: 1hr of Muay Thai
Tuesday: 1 hr of Pilates

Very Lazy

I had a 5k charity run on Sunday and I didn't go for that. Somehow I've managed to fall into this rut of laziness...or I've just gotten used to not turning up for races. Sigh....

That aside, last Thursday I went for my first swim training at the British Club and it was tough. Good tough. The coach (whose name I really don't recall!) looked at my swim stroke and I'm proud to say that my right arm stroke (what on earth do you call it?) was very very good. But he also said that my left arm stroke was really really crap. I could be a brilliant swimmer, but for my left arm! Damn left arm! The last bit about the 'brilliant swimmer' was my own swim analysis, don't think the coach said anything close to me being brilliant.

I did a crappy 2.4k fartlek run on Friday and drank too much wine after, which meant my Saturday was more or less a lost cause. My grand plan to do muay thai in the afternoon, became an afternoon of hitting the beers. Gah.

And to round up my already lazy weekend, I didn't turn up for my 5k run. Terrible terrible. I did go to the gym for some core training though, so that made me feel a little better. All the calories that might have burnt were put back at dinner. On a whim, I decided to make Beer Butt Chicken (I basically took a bunch of recipes and came up with something) and a very sinful apple crumble. Guess this week'll be spent working off all those added calories!

What I've done:
Wednesday: Ran 7.23k in 58:40 mins
Thursday:45 minute swim training
Friday: Ran 2.4k in 16:49 mins

It's Been A While

Since my last post and so much has happened! Over the past two weeks, I've gone to the Emerald Isle for a beautiful wedding, did a 10k run in Manchester (relived my University days on foot!) and chickened out of a half marathon.

First and foremost, congratulations to the loveliest Irish bride and groom. I had so much fun staying with the bride and being a part of her big day (it's always more the bride's day than the groom's one). If you're ever reading this Cat (which is very unlikely) thanks for asking me to be one of your bridesmaids! I had sooooo much fun, drank waaaaay too much and brought back amazing memories. Despite all the celebrations though, and because I was jet-lagging, I managed to fit in a 2.5k run (yes yes, pathetic, but I was hungover!) and a 4k run (slightly less hungover) on the Cat's brother's treadmill. I also managed to set off the alarm on the day of the wedding (whilst on said treadmill) and woke the entire family up. But that's a story for another day.

Being back in Manchester was nice and nostalgic. I had intended to do a 10k route recommended by the Manchester Frontrunners on Runnersworld, but decided instead to do a run around the city centre. Things have changed quite a bit in Manchester, but a lot of the old stuff is still there, which is nice. My old hall of residence and the god-awful Law building were still standing. Best of all, Whitworth Art Museum (which I sadly didn't have the time to go to) looked as peaceful as it did 6 years ago!

Finally, yes, I chickened out of my half mary. I was jet-lagging and completely unprepared. There was just no way ever I'd wake up at 5 in the morning to run 21k. So I chose not to turn up instead. Big cheers for the mad G though who had hit only 5k in her training, but still had the gumption to turn up and complete the whole darn thing. Great work! I have rockstar running buddies!

Anyway (I know I said 'finally' just a paragraph ago, but did you really believe that?) I've been relatively good since I've been back. I did a 5-10 minute skipping session on Saturday (my calves were killing me days after!), did a 6.2k run (distance from work to my girl friend's place where I was having dinner) and had a hard pilates session yesterday! So it's not as if I've been just lying around doing nothing!

What I've done
Monday: Ran 6.2k in 48:56 mins
Yesterday: 1 hour of pilates

Bruises and then some

I have a wonderful set of bruises all over thanks largely to Muay Thai (MT) which I've started going back to after taking a one month break. MT brings out a huge conflict in me. Half of me doesn't actually know why I'm taking it since I really don't enjoy hurting myself or doing tons and tons of push-ups; and the other half of me, masochist that I am, rather enjoys the ache after every class. There's some little voice at the back of every non-elite wannabe sports person that cheers every time you wake up with that ache...kind of makes you feel almost...well...elite. But yes I'm back at MT and I'm bruised and aching and enjoying a little sick appreciation of that fact.

What I've done:
Last Tuesday: Pilates for 1 hour
Last Friday: Ran 10k in waaay too long a time
Saturday: Muay Thai for 1 hour (had the hardcore instructor and did more sit-ups than I've ever done)
Yesterday: Muay Thai for 1 hour (real wuss class after the backbreaking Saturday class)

Bad Drivers

I've always been relatively mild when it comes to bitching about how bad Singaporean drivers are. But last night I met one of those I'd put up in my list of irresponsible drivers. Yesterday I did my 'longer' run home. I figured I'd been taking it easy long enough since I've fallen ill and I should put those legs through more. So I started off from the train station and ran back...and almost got hit by a car.

It's bad enough that there are selfish cyclists on the pedestrian pathways half the time, who have no qualms about knocking every person on foot down. But yesterday as I was just about to run across a zebra crossing, this ass of driver decided to plough through the crossing regardless of human on it or not. I had to jam to a stop (okay, I exaggerate, I wasn't running all THAT fast) and suffer the humiliation of him banging on his horn. Hello?!?!? He was completely in the wrong by speeding through the zebra crossing and not slowing down to see if anyone would be using it. BAH! If he had knocked me down, he'd be behind bars now. Needless to say, I spent a good 20 seconds shaking my fist at him and yelling a whole string of not-so-nice words his way. Not that he heard any of it, since he was speeding off anyway.

This whole thing really rattled me last night though. I don't get these drivers who don't give two hoots about how they could potentially be killing someone with their idiotic driving. Since I've started drinking, I've been hard on drink drivers because I hate how selfish and irresponsible it is. I've once driven past a club before and the cars coming out of there were driving stupidly. I don't feel sorry for people who get fined/have their licence suspended/jailed for drunk driving. It's one of the most stupid chances to take and quite frankly if they wanted to kill themselves, they can go right ahead, but to put other random peoples' lives at risk, that really pisses me off.

So to all the irresponsible drivers out there, I hope you just knock it off. It's not cool to drive drunk and it's not cool to drive in a way you endanger other road-users especially runners who are also making it home (and would like to get home alive) just like you are.

Yes, I know I've ranted for 4 paragraphs, but I'm so mad at all these selfish jerks!

What I've done:
Last Wednesday (haven't updated in a while!): 4.5k
Saturday: Swam 1.2k
Yesterday: Ran 7k (and almost died) in 55 minutes

I'm Back!

So my return back to sport has been slow and gentle so far and other than my shins aching, I'm actually feeling pretty good despite being laid up for 2 weeks!

Over the weekend, I did a short swim. My neck was still hurting from my inflamed lymph nodes and the 2 weeks of non-activity had turned any muscle I had to mush. Other than my arms feeling the strain, I thought the 600m I did at the pool went pretty well.

On Sunday, R and I went for a long long walk. We started off at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and hiked it down to MacRitchie Reservoir. All in it took us a good 3 hours to do a 10k trek. Because it was insanely warm (although we did get rained on for a good 1/2 hour before it got really hot again) and we didn't bring any munchies, I was pretty miserable at the end of the walk. In spite of that, I thought the walk did me good. My legs got a good work out in preparation for training this week.

Yesterday I stepped things up a bit more. I went for pilates classes and followed that off with a run to R's house (4k). Although there were moments where I was worried I'd be too tired to go further, I made it all the way through!

I'm back!

What I've been doing
Saturday: 600m swim
Sunday: 10k trek

Yesterday:
Pilates for 45 minutes
Ran 4k in 31:53mins

Still Resting

No pilates, no nothing yesterday. My folks are freaked out that I have hurt something badly, didn't help I was whinging the whole of last week, and demanded another week of bed rest and just sitting on my flabby ass twiddling my chubby little fingers. In the meantime, I've managed to hurt my neck from heaven-knows-what (sure as hell ain't anything exercise-related) and I've got a little man attacking the back of my head with a tiny ice pick because I couldn't sleep last night. I'm grouchy and my frustrations need an outlet for release!!!!

Sick

I've been sick the last week. Goodness knows from what. All I know is I had a crazy backache, I couldn't raise my legs and my eyes were throbbing. I was on a nice cocktail of anti-virals and painkillers and I slept away the week that I was supposed to be building on distance. So here I am this week, no clue what hit me last week (despite having seen a troop of doctors and specialists) and still not hitting 10k on my runs. Nonetheless, I'm still going to thank God for small mercies - at least I'm feeling a lot better now and tonight I'm off for pilates!

Hong Kong

Off to Hong Kong for the weekend to celebrate me mom's birf-day. Aiming to squeeze two runs and a swim in during the 3 days there. Yes, I am exceedingly ambitious!

Slow and Steady Does It

After all the failed runs in the past week, I decided to give running a shot again. I've been a running wreck lately and running was just starting to really suck big time. I've never been the kind of runner who experiences a great running high in the middle of my run. On the contrary, I just feel miserable all the way to the end. So what gets me going is really the sense of achievement at the end of the run. With all the incomplete runs, the more-walk-than-run incidents in the past couple of weeks, I was just getting really fed-up with myself and the world, because it really didn't feel like I had achieved anything running related.

Yesterday though...Yesterday the light shone brightly at the end of the tunnel. I started easy - did a little warm-up and a couple of stretches and embarked on a slow run back from the train station. I didn't dash through any lights worrying that they'd change; if they did I'd just hang back and wait. It was essentially a very nice slow plod home and if I can think of any analogy, last night's run was almost similar to someone sticking their toe into a hot bath to check if the temperature's just right. And it turns out, the temperature was just right.

I made it home, slowly and steadily. Of course I was exhausted after the run, but it was a different exhaustion from the previous few runs. I finished the whole distance, and I could have gone further (albeit at a very slow, almost pathetic pace) if I wanted to, and I didn't feel like dying. Most of all, my confidence was back once more and, truth be told, I've missed that good old cocky friend immensely.

What I did last night:
Ran 7k in 57 minutes

I Ache...

Muay Thai and Pilates have taken their toll. Today, my ankles and every muscle in my body that could ache are aching. I feel so hard core! Aiming for a 6.5k run tonight. Judging from my complete lack of running lately, I think it's going to be a bit of a struggle.

What I've done
Monday: 1 hr of Muay Thai
Tuesday: 50 minutes of Pilates

I had some big plan to wake up at 6am on both of those days to run/swim, but that evidently didn't quite work out!

I Need Sleep!

This despite spending almost my entire weekend catching up on sleep. I need to start sorting out my body clock because I'm all over the place. And I'm tired all the time. So I don't do any exercise/sport. And I feel even more tired. It's a vicious cycle.

What I did:
Last Thursday: ran 4k
Saturday: 'ran' 4.99k in 51 minutes (don't ask, I'll talk about the 'run' when I feel less depressed)

sssss...Like A Snake....Anaconda!

Yesterday's muay thai session felt less hard core than the last session I had. Which means nothing much, because R and I were still dripping in sweat when we were done. We dragged our smelly bodies off to River Valley for R to get his Murtabak fix. I decided to go a tad bit healthier and had chicken congee with some really oily veggies.

Muay thai classes are pretty fun. I didn't really enjoy them the first two times because it just felt like a really really hard work-out. And all the sit-ups and push-ups...not fun at all. But I find that after the classes I ache in the right places and I'm sure the darn high kicks must be good for the running, right? There's also a lot of focus on breathing, kind of like pilates, yoga, climbing...I always thought I was breathing properly...I mean, the way I see it is if I don't breathe I'd die, so breathing should come naturally. But apparently there's a technique to all this breathing and I keep getting 'Breathe breathe! Like this, like this! ssssssss! Like a snake! Anaconda!'. So just blowing out with puffed cheeks is wrong. For the longest time I had no clue what the instructor was on about. Also because he had the strongest accent and his vocabulary consisted of maybe 10 words - jab, punch, tiptoe....But I'm getting the hang of it slowly and I would describe how it helps but I really don't know how to. I guess I'll just leave it as 'sssss....like a snake...Anaconda!'

What I did yesterday:
Muay Thai for 1 hour

A Very Tiring Weekend

And I don't even think I did that much. I woke up Saturday morning very dehydrated from beers till 3am the night before (obviously I didn't make swimming lessons that morning). After chugging down lots and lots of water, I made it to the gym at my place and did a 40 minute core training session. Went out with the family for a way-too-filling lunch and had a rock-climbing session after. I was supposed to have a 2 hour lesson, but I made it only an hour before I just completely ran out of energy. There was just nothing left in me to use anymore. So I cut the class short and headed home to rest...which equalled to me falling asleep for a good hour and a half. I had to meet my friend after dinner for drinks again, so the sleep was a welcome relief.

Sunday morning, and I woke up very dehydrated (hang on...there seems to be a pattern here). Went to church at stupid-o'clock in the morning and had way too much for Fathers' Day Lunch again. I felt a bit better though because after napping for an hour and a half I dragged myself out of bed and ran to R's place. 5k of sheer torture via Sixth Avenue (despite what anyone says, I maintain that the slope is pretty darn steep there) and I reached Holland Village exceedingly thirsty. R made a curry for dinner and we shared a bottle of wine, so I'm guessing everything I worked off on the run got put back on again.

Muay Thai later. I'm just tired thinking about it!

A few random points:

1. My Foot

My heel's been hurting when I run ever since the Mt Faber run and I've got half a mind to see a podiatrist if it doesn't get better. Every now and then, it feels as if someone keeps tugging at my plantar fascia with an awful lot of strength and it really isn't fun.

2. My Weight

I've put on an insane amount of weight since I've started drinking beer instead of my usual bourbon cokes. I'm guessing this whole switch to beers probably wasn't my brightest idea ever. So now I'm sticking to the wines with the occasional bourbon cokes when I want to treat myself. And lots and lots of water in between.

Also I aim to start eating healthy...again. These resolutions tend to be very short-lived, but one's got to have some faith. I have big plans to eat muesli and whole grain icky stuff.

3. New Shoes

Genius here forgot to bring her climb shoes on Saturday and had to buy them at the school itself (obviously sold at a premium). I think I hate them. They hurt my feet so much and I finished my class with blisters on my fourth toes (don't ask me why only these two toes) on both feet. Boo hoo.

What I did over the weekend:

Saturday
Core training for 40 minutes
Rock climbing for 1 hour

Sunday
Ran 5k in 39 minutes

Taking It Easy

I was exhausted yesterday. Two nights ago I met up with a bunch of my college mates for my birthday dinner (I think I have birthday dinners planned till the end of the month!) and as usual, I of little self-control, played till late into the night. So I wasn't a happy trooper yesterday...or at least not a very bright-eyed and busy-tailed one.

Nonetheless, I was due for some exercise and if I didn't enjoy it, it was my own damn fault for not sleeping earlier...so I hit the pool and did a solid 15 laps before dinner. After dinner, I crashed in bed, but had to head out after a very brief nap to meet my friend Jeff who's just back from the UK for a short while. (As a side note, why do all my friends come visiting at the same time? I either get a visitor drought or a million overseas guests all visiting at once!) And what happens, after the first glass of wine, I feel a need to have a few more (not that I'm an alcoholic or anything, but the conversation was going really well) and next thing I know, it's half past twelve and I'm still out. Today I'm awful sleepy and the filling lunch I had isn't quite helping. More drinks tonight (sigh!!!!) with Jon who I really really like! I just wish I were more awake to enjoy it!

Other news, I bought a pair of 2XU compression tights yesterday. I'm a sucker for new gimmicky stuff and I haven't thrown a bunch of money at some completely over-priced sporting gear in a while. My hands were feeling itchy. I'll try it soon as it's done in the wash and let you all know if it's every bit as fantastic in aiding recovery as it claims to be!

Also, after mulling over taking swim technique classes, I finally decided to get my act together and call up the British Club and check if they did swim classes there. I've been completely under-utilising my membership, especially since the club is a 10 minute run from my house, and I thought I should get down to training there. So I'm starting my first class with the Masters section of the swim school there on Saturday morning. Let's hope I don't make too big a fool of myself.

What I did yesterday:
Swam 15 laps (900m) in 25 mins

And the Legs Still Ache

Last night I went for pilates and I think my instructor, Kerrie, is starting to get tougher on us. She really worked our asses off yesterday and today, my legs, arms, abs and back are waging a mini protest. It makes the 1.5 bottles of beer I had for dinner feel completely justified.

Anyhow, after the class, one little wise-ass decided to put on her running gear and run over to Holland Village from Liat Towers (in case you were unable to put two and two together, that's where my class is). Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? I made it all of one kilometre. And this after I had to stop at the 200m mark and stretch because my legs ached so much. What's the moral of the story? Well, to put it simply, I think my legs need rest after a race. And not a measly 1 day rest, but a bunch of solid impact-free days.

So because I do learn from my lesson, I'm resting the legs today and going for a swim tomorrow. Maybe (and this is only if just walking alone doesn't hurt) I might do a bit of running over the weekend, but I'm still going to take it nice and easy this week.

What I did last night:
50 mins of pilates

Mizuno Mt Faber Run Race Report

Of all the races I've done (which is some pitiful number), I think this was one of the most disorganised ones. At risk of being banned forever by disgruntled race organisers, let me just list the reasons for my conclusion:

Firstly, the race started 5 minutes before flag-off time. As far as I know, my watch has always been pretty accurate and I haven't before started any race late. So I doubt this is my fault at all!

Secondly, the route chosen to Mt Faber basically alongside some main road and the pavement was narrow, so people ended up running on the road itself. It was literally Man vs Car for the distance up to the hill. Coupled with numerous traffic lights throughout the course of the run, this race felt more like a practice run than an actual race. Could they have cordoned off the road? Closed a couple of roads? I'm not sure. I don't know if it costs money to do that or if it's just too much effort for the organisers, but it was a very weird run full of starts and stops. I can't imagine how anyone who runs this run competitively wouldn't be a bit annoyed at all the traffic light stops etc.

Thirdly, the race marshalls seemed to have no clue where the water stops were! On this point I concede that I may be a bit too hard on the organisers, since it was my own fault that I was so desperately thirsty (I had a couple of wines and beers the previous night) that I needed a water stop every 2 steps (there were 3 water stops) and all I had was a vague 'it's somewhere up ahead' answer.

Finally, they ran out of water at the end! This I think was probably the most unforgivable travesty! This isn't the first Mt Faber run, so I don't understand why they under-catered in the whole hydration area anyway! G and I had to grab our bags and then dash off to the nearby hawker to get some much needed hydration.

Would I do the run again in spite of all this? Quite likely although I might make sure to bring my own water next time. It was challenging and that made up for the poor organisation. The uphill run was sheer torture and G and I got lazy and strolled down. But the moment we got back on ground, I was flying (by my standards at least). I've always held back until the last 50m (or such point where the finish line is visible) but yesterday, for some reason I started dashing off with 2.5k to go....needless to say I regretted that almost instantly. I couldn't stop because it was...well, just too embarrassing and humiliating to start with a burst and then just fizzle out after 10 steps, so I just stuck it out. And I made it the whole 2.5k without dying!

I'm pretty happy with my time, not because I ran particularly fast but because I hadn't been doing much by way of training, I strolled down the entire downhill bit of Mt Faber, and I wasn't running all that quickly up Mt Faber either...all that in mind, the time I took was actually half decent. Yes I am actually making excuses for having a lousy time, but I'm still rather pleased with my lousy time!

R and I met up for a good ole Sunday roast at Fosters after his hockey game and spent the rest of the day just chilling out. All in, it was a pretty good Sunday, despite the sore legs today!

Race time: 10k in 1hr 22 mins

New Cammie

I got me a new camera....well, actually R got me a kick-ass camera for my birthday, which is waterproof, shockproof, freeze proof, crush proof...Everything a clumsy person like me needs. So here's to a whole bunch of underwater shots in the pool and at windsurfing, and a whole bunch of rockclimbing shots!

I took a half day yesterday to lunch with R and go present hunting after. *I've got my eye on a bike, so I'm contemplating getting it at some point in time.* Massage after and a big BBQ with the folks at night. How was yesterday? Really really fun...

I'm probably going to have to do a run soon to work off those extra calories.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday and I'm going to have a day of pigging out! Now if only the aches from Muay Thai would just go away!

Muay Thai Battlescars

Well, actually there aren't any scars, but boy does everything ache so bad. If I thought the introductory class was tough, yesterday's class was 10 times harder. On top of that we were using actual gloves this time...which although was kind of cool at first, started to weigh your arms down after. I find it amazing that it never feels like I'm doing that much work at muay thai, but my body feels like someone kicked me all over the next day. I also picked up the mother of all bruises on the top of my foot. Yes I was kicking with the wrong part of my leg blah blah. By the time I was corrected, the damage was done and my foot is all swollen, black and blue now...stuff of champions (or people who just can't aim to save their lives). I've actually made this a full paragraph of post muay thai whining, which isn't all too surprising, it's probably more surprising that I did whine through an entire essay of a post.

Next up, pilates tonight! I can't walk properly, everything hurts, but I feel I need the pilates. Woo hoo.

Muay Thai and a 5k Run

This weekend was interesting. I've wanted to take up Capoeira or Krav Maga for a while, so what do I do? I go and sign up for Muay Thai classes instead. I know, the way my brain works is pretty darn amazing.

R (I managed to convince him to join me) and I had our first introductory trial class on Saturday and it was a combination of giggles, sweat and breathlessness. The instructor who took us was Thai and had the strongest Thai accent. Which effectively meant, I didn't get half of what he said and R got even less. For some reason, I found that funny. That obviously didn't bode so well with the instructor who probably thought I wasn't taking anything seriously (which he was half right). Long story short, the whole session smelt like a boot camp. We ended with push-ups and sit-ups and by then I had run out of energy to laugh over anything. R and I were exhausted after the class...ane we read that as a really good work-out. So...next thing we know, we've signed up for 31 classes and have committed ourselves to 1 session a week. I suspect that R's motivation was mostly driven by the prata shop below the school and the fact that he could have a weekly prata guilt-free after a hard work-out.

Sunday was a bag of fun. I woke up and realised I couldn't extend my left arm without it aching. My thighs, calves and feet were also hurting, although I wasn't sure if that was because I was traipsing around on Saturday night in high heels or because of muay thai. Now all this would be a good enough excuse for me to just laze around all Sunday, but thanks to the stupid 10k Mt Faber run in less than a week and my complete lack of running training in the past few weeks, I had to haul my lazy ass out the house. It sounds like I came to this decision on my own, but in reality I was more than happy convincing myself I'd wake up really early on Monday and run then (yeah, right). R had to guilt-trip me into running over to his and it was NOT a fun run at all. First off, Sixth Avenue (which I had to run through) was just almost uphill all the way. I was more or less ready to throw in the towel at the end of the Sixth Avenue stretch, but didn't want to suffer the humiliation of hailing a cab to a place less than 5 minutes away. So I sucked it up and stuck it out and made it to R's. Throughout the entire run, there was not once that my stitch wasn't there to stick it in me. Bah. I wasn't a happy camper.

So here I am today, nothing much has changed. I'm still aching waist down, my arm is still unable to extend fully and I have a muay thai session some number of hours away. Happy days.

What I did over the weekend:
Saturday: 50 minutes of muay thai
Sunday: Ran 5k in 40 mins

Slow Step Into Things

Since my last post, I've been for my pilates class (was really hard this week! which could be because of 1. the instructor was being tough on us, 2. I was still a little sick, or 3. I've just become very very unfit) and managed an extremely slow run (or plod) on the treadmill. I would love to say that I intentionally ran slowly because I'm still getting better and not feeling a hundred percent so I didn't want to overdo the exercise. Well, that's kind of true, but my calf muscles ache a little today and frankly, I found going any faster than I did yesterday just really tiring. So what does this all mean? Simply that I'm slow now. I was slow before, but I'm even slower now! Good thing that came out of it though, after the run (if I can even call it that), last night was the first night in ages that I've managed to get a well-rested sleep.

What I did:
3k in 31 mins (I'm still a wee bit sick!)

Fat Post

My flu, my work trip to Shanghai (where every meal came in the form of 1000 courses...okay, I exaggerate), my foray into the world of beer guzzling (yes, I moved away from the bourbon cokes assuming I'd have more self-control with the beers, but...), and just general laziness has made me into a blob. I've spent my whole life trying not to get a beer belly and now I feel I'm just slowly building up a nice little layer of blubber to get me through the days when famine hits Singapore (if ever!). Soooo, tonight I'm going back to pilates. I'm not quite a hundred percent yet, so pilates will be a nice easy step back into exercise once more. I've got the Mount Faber 10k race coming up in less than two weeks as well, and I know if I don't do anything these next 10 days, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble come 14th June. Fingers crossed my flu magically disappears tomorrow! Pray hard everyone!

Bummed

I didn't do the 10k Sundown Run. Caught the flu (I blame my sick colleague) and proceeded to be very sick for the whole week. In fact I'm still sick now. Bah! I'm so bummed! Was really looking forward to doing the run. Oh well, next year, I guess. Needless to say I drank the Saturday away.

Core Training

Yesterday during my 'lunch' (which as mentioned before is pretty flexible), I headed off to the gym to get some running in. I warmed up, then decided I was more interested in doing core work...Yes I am fickle like that. I found the wiggle board (I have no clue what it's really called but essentially it's a board of wood with another strip of wood under it making it...well...unstable) and did 3 sets of 10 squats, did 3 planks (1 minute 20 minutes/1 minute/1 minute) , did some work on the obliques and did a couple of bridges. After all this, which to be fair took me at best 20 minutes, I did a 2.4k run on the treadmill. All good.

This morning, my stomach muscles ache a little. But like a good 'I worked those suckers out' ache.

Race Results!

The race results are finally out for the Tri-Factor swim! And I'm pretty darn proud of myself (I'm easily proud of myself, so my pride isn't really a reflection on my performance in the race). I finished off 15th out of 35 women with a time of 28:30 mins! And I thought it'd be at least a half hour! So good start to the day!

I had my first pilates class in ages on Tuesday and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. The zen music, the core workout, not sweating like a pig, feeling real worked out after....what's not to love about it. All that didn't help the aches I'd picked up from the 10k run, however. Well all the aches coupled with my monthly dinner meet-up with James (read: dinner plus lots of wine, booze etc) made me a very miserable person at work yesterday morning, so I took a half day off and headed to some Chinese reflexologist that R had recommended and got myself a full body massage. Sure beats a sports massage in the pleasure department. That aside, I did nothing very much the rest of the day.

Race Photos (I've been slow at this, so I'm just going to dump all the race photos over the previous few months):

TRIBOB SPRINT SERIES







TRI-FACTOR SWIM





For some reason the photos are back to front and I really can't be bothered to upload them all over again. Yes I know there's probably a faster, more efficient way to do it, but I'm well aware that I'm destined to do everything the hard way.

What I did on Tuesday:
1hr of pilates

First 10k in Ages

I don't even remember the last time I did 10k, but I'm sure it was many many light years ago.

Last evening's run went pretty fine. Knees hurt, ankles hurt, had a stitch...yet, I still trudged on and finished off the darn 10k. I was stinky, wet, tired and all my joints hurt at the end...which is kind of why I sunk to the oh-so-pathetic level of ringing my mum up to come get me in the car and send me the 1k journey home. Legs are feeling a bit tired today, but I've got a good old pilates class tonight and that should get things all stretched out.

What I did last night:
10k in 1 hour 15 mins

Another Weekend, Another Climb

I think I've forgotten what it's like not to ache. I haven't stopped aching since my 1k swim and I don't think my arms and legs aching are purely due to the swim anymore than they are due to the fact that I haven't let them have a good long rest.

The easy-peasy walls were all closed on Saturday for some little brat's birthday party, and I had to start off my session on wall that was way too hard core for a warm-up climb. I want to grumble and grumble about how they shouldn't close walls for birthday parties on the weekend, but well, it's the recession, I doubt the school gives a damn about my feelings and (much as I hate to admit it) the kids looked kinda cute scrambling all over the walls. Nonetheless, because I was stuck with the harder routes, I pretty much did more this climb class than I did for a long, long time. Which is why my forearms, triceps, biceps, shoulder blades etc etc aches so so much now. Sigh....

I was supposed to do a long run and windsuring this weekend, but I did neither. I did, however, make it down for the Singapore Repertory Theatre's (SRT) Shakespeare at the Park event on Saturday. Warm as hell, but R and I had a lovely curry picnic (my idea, I decided to go all chinese on him) and 2 very nice bottles of wine. Food and booze aside though, I actually really enjoyed SRT's version of 'Much Ado About Nothing', which says a lot considering after the Bridge Project: A Winter's Tale last month, I decided that I would probably never ever like Shakespeare and that had resigned myself to the fact that I was essentially an unartistic and uncultured git.

Anyhooo, long-ish run tonight! Wish me luck!

6.95k

How annoying when you finish a run and realise you're just 50m from making the run a nice round number!

I ran to R's place last night before we went out for a nice dinner. Because I had to fit my nice dinner clothes and a nice dinner bag in my backpack, I was running heavier than usual, with my dinner bag poking into my back the entire while. Needless to say it wasn't too comfortable. However, after a while, your back just adapts to the shape of the damn bag and it gets easier to bear.

On another note, I think I'm not actually pushing myself when I do my runs. I remember reading somewhere that if you're able to run the last 400m super fast too comfortably, you've been running way too slow the previous distance. I managed to dig (I want to say 'deep within me', but that really wasn't the case) into my energy reserves and do a dash at the last lap to R's place. I guess I spent so long being paranoid about running out of energy, that I spend half my time over-conserving it. I think I'm going to have to find a nice comfortable balance at some point. Or get over my fear of being breathless.

What I did yesterday:
Ran 6.95k in 53 mins

Spoke Too Soon

Legs felt like lead last night. It felt like I was dragging two huge bags of flour on each leg. My shins hurt, my calves ached....so much for the good run the day before. However, I decided to finish off the run taking the hillier road back to my house. At first it was torture, but after a while you brain stops working and all you're focusing on is getting it the hell over with. Which I did. Hurrah. 6.5k tonight...and I'm not optimistic about it.

What I did last night:
4.6k in 36:18min

Finally! A Comfortable Run

I don't think I've said anything good about running the past few weeks, months etc. But last night, in spite of the fact that my back and neck felt like someone had pummeled them (I had a sports massage in the afternoon, with the vain hope that my muscles would miraculously stop aching after that) I had a sweet sweet run. I wasn't going too fast because I knew I wasn't ready for that, but I realised I didn't do too shabbily as well...namely, no stitch, no feeling like dying, no random aches and pains...

What I did:
Ran 4k in 29:10 mins

Tri Factor Series - Swim Race Report

I'll make a confession straight out and say that I didn't do as much training for this as I should have. Neither did I abstain from anything or rest well. In fact, right till the eve of the race I was happily knocking the beers back. Why? Well, simply because I was so darn cocky that I didn't die at my 'trial run'.

Well, despite all that I don't think I did that badly in my swim. There was a storm early that morning, so it was grey and dull in the morning. The sea had also taken on a life of its own, which made swimming in it that much more 'fun'. I don't think I have much to say about the race except for the fact that it had less people than the Sprint Series aquathlon. Still got kicked a couple of times though but because the group got a lot more spread out after a while, there were times I found myself swimming without anyone beside me...very very nice.

1k in the sea didn't seem like too much of a big deal, but I'm aching crazily today and just drained of energy. I'd like to think that, for a change, I did push myself a little harder than usual, but I'm also sure it could be due to the fact that I've been lazy.

No times yet because I forgot to set my watch and the results of the race aren't out!

Back to Inertia

So the problem with doing a dress rehearsal and doing it semi-decently is that you wind up being too cocky and doing absolutely nothing by way of preparation after. Since my swim and climb on Saturday I have only managed one miserable little run on the treadmill on Tuesday. Every day I've made plans to wake up at stupid o'clock in the morning and every day I've not met those plans. And I know at the back of my head it's because there's a little voice there saying 'you don't have to do anything, you've already practiced and you were fine'...oh the laziness!

Dress Rehearsal

I've been pretty good last week. Other than Tuesday where I went a bit nuts and slept at 2am, I pretty much have been getting 7 hours of sleep in a day and also getting some training in here and there. I did a 1.2k swim on Tuesday, a 900m swim on Thursday and ran 4k on Friday. Running has taken a back seat to swimming and my pathetic-ness at it is evidence of that. I had a stitch early on in the run and pretty much hobbled the last 1k of the dang 4k. I guess I'll start running properly again after the swim race this Sunday.

So Saturday last week as a whole dress rehearsal, I trotted off to Sentosa's Tanjong Beach to see if i could do a 1k swim confidently. Maaaan, I obviously forgot how long 500m actually was, because when I got to the beach and saw that I had to swim from one end to the other twice, I freaked out. But I had dragged R down and I couldn't possibly NOT do the swim, so into the water I went. The last time I did a swim in the sea, I was with a whole bunch of girls being kicked in the face and I had to constantly remind myself not to freak out. Essentially I thought the only reason I was freaking out was because I was getting kicked constantly. But when I was swimming by myself on Saturday, there was a period where there was a sudden surge of waves and I started panicking. It's insane actually, I continued swimming but my head was just filled with thoughts of how I might get sucked into an undercurrent and drown miserable. Talk about positive thinking, huh.

All the same, I completed the swim safe and sound, thank you very much and R and I went off for some kickass curry. And me being a person of extremes headed off for climb classes after. Completely overdid the exercise and wound up doing nothing on Sunday because I was all achy!

Easy swim again tonight! Just to keep the whole stamina there and all!

Drama Drama

The past few weeks have been filled with drama. We've just had our alumni AGM last Saturday and I got elected as President (woohoo!). Unfortunately, there's a faction of not-so-nice people (I'm exaggerating when I say that...there are only 2 nasty people) who've been spewing lies and half-truths about R and I via email to random people. I've had to take the high road, which meant shutting up and not tearing them to shreds for a change....it was soooo hard! It's hard enough to get me to shut up on a normal day, but when I'm pissed off with someone? Gah, sheer torture.

Nonetheless what's gotten me through all this have been my swims, well, and some runs...although the swims have been more zen-like than the runs. Your brain stops working on overdrive, you stop over-analysing and you stop hating people (who fully deserve to be hated) quite as much. Peace out doods!

Post Sevens

I was a bit less lazy post-sevens. For one I actually dragged myself to spin classes last Thursday (the night before the long weekend where people were partying the night away! And I was sweating my lungs out...okay, I went for drinks after), went climbing on the last 2 Saturdays, swam 1.2k yesterday and squeezed some windsurfing in here and there. It sounds like I've achieved so much, but really, this was all done over a 2 week period and a lot of it in between was spent lazing around. Sigh....

Had my first full body health check this morning and I was shuttled from one place to another to go through a whole battery of tests. Most depressing is the body fat test, where I think I heard wrongly, but if I didn't, I'm going to have to eat super duper healthy from now on. No more chicken skin, fatty pork, deep fried food...just plain old boring healthy crap...well, that and waaaay more exercise than I'm doing now. Wish me luck!

Hong Kong Sevens 2009

My second year at the Sevens and I enjoyed it as much as I did last year. I ramble on constantly about how I really don't like rugby, but the Sevens is great for someone like me with a short attention span. If the game's dull, it'd be over in 15 minutes and something new'll be on in no time!

But of course the Sevens is never just about the rugby, it's also about the booze, which surprisingly I didn't really do a lot of this time around. I also got to meet up with all my really good friends from Hong Kong over delicious meals and cheeky glasses of vino. Timmy made it up from Malaysia as well, so it was really a big reunion the bunch of us.

The day before flying back to Singapore, R and I went for the Dragon's Back hike. I had been there previously with Jimbo, Stepho and my sis, and the walk was very enjoyable. Very pleasant and easy with fantastic scenery all around. Unfortunately, because R and I got there pretty late on, we ended up rushing through the entire trek partly because I was freaked about being stuck up in the middle of nowhere when it got dark. Soooo, because of my paranoia, I now have a new PB (2hrs 15 mins) for Dragon's Back. Hah! I might throw in some shots we took during the trek, hopefully sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, my calves and shins still ache a little 2 days after the walk which is just a little on the tragic side.

Good Old 6k

I did a good, not-so-comfortable 6k run the day before yesterday and the run was plagued with stitches. I had to stop about 4 times along the way just to stop the darn ache. But, as always, I felt good after it was over. And strangely enough my average pace was better than all the other half-hearted runs I've been doing over the past few months. Which still isn't some great fast pace, but considering how little I'm doing lately, is better than nothing.

What I did:
Tuesday: Ran 6k in 42 minutes

*Wheeze Wheeze*

The past weekend was spent ill. Evidently I was playing too much and it all came back to bite my in my big, fat ass. Which meant I did one huge zero exercise-wise over the weekend.

Yesterday I wandered back into swimming. Finished 10 laps in about 16 minutes and my arms were burning after just the first one. I have neglected swimming for a whole month now, so needless to say all this was kind of expected. But I'm back now, so all you kids at the pool, WATCH OUT!

What I did yesterday:
Swam 10 laps (600m)

Why I Haven't Been Updating

It's a very simple reason actually, namely I just haven't been doing much exercise at all. I haven't been windsurfing, climbing...I haven't been running much, I haven't gone near a pool since the biathlon...And sure enough, because of all the playing till late, lack of sleep and booze filled nights, I'm down with an annoying cough again. Nonetheless, I did a 4k run on Tuesday and I have big plans to do a 6k run tonight. Or I might just do a 4k and leave the longer run till the weekend. Ah lazy lazy.

What I have done since my race:
Tuesday: Ran 4.2k in 30:33mins

The Suburban Run Race Report

Before I begin rambling on, I want to say how absolutely proud I am with S who ran her first 5k ever and kicked sweet ass. She's a complete rock star! Welcome to the world of sick people who wake up at stupid times of the day to attend a race!

There actually is nothing much to report about the race, other than the fact that there was one strange dood at the race wearing biking gear for a race, and a glaringly neon coloured one at that. Very very odd. Overall, the race was pretty well organised, except for the bit where people running the loop back kind of collided straight into people running into the loop. I wasn't running for time (not that I'm such a speedster I expect to win each race...hell, one can dream) for this run, because I promised S to stick by her the whole while and also because I've been so darn lazy and unfit the past 2 weeks. I had a rough last week and instead of running it off and getting some training in, I decided to drink a lot of alcohol instead. Not smart.

Today the legs are aching from the race yesterday. Could either be from the race (which is just telling how little I've been doing by way of running) or from the boozy St. Paddy's Day celebrations I partook in yesterday. I think I need to lay off the alcohol for a long long time.

Race time: 38:36mins
Official Race Results (this race didn't take note of when you started running, just when you ended): 40:18 mins

I'm Back!

After half-heartedly attempting to exercise the past few days, I finally got a semi-decent run in yesterday. Granted it was slow, and I did walk a few times and stop a lot of times (the dreaded stitch is back!), but it was nice round 7k and I finished all of it. I'm not going to beat myself up over the lousy run, because frankly, I've been sitting on my ass a lot the past 2 weeks. Plus, my dad had his birthday last week and I bought him the Wii, which of course ended up being my toy - hey, you get to wield a fake 'gun', pretend you're in WW2 and kill bad guys, it's kick-ass!

So in all of 2 weeks, I've done one sad little run (last Thursday) and one run yesterday. I did go for a nice short trail walk with R over the weekend and it was pretty fun. The thing is, it's pretty hard to find a nice untouched area in Singapore. Everything is buildings and roads. Every time I do a run back, it's always by a busy road, although I do run past the Botanical Gardens sometimes, which is a nice break from the pollution.

All the same, I've always wanted to do this trail which starts about a 5 minute walk away from my place and ends up at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (Singapore's tallest hill...which isn't really all that tall). It's a short trail (slightly more than 2k), but really pleasant and green and brown. I really enjoyed it. Plus I really enjoy these little moments with R because it's always fun 'discovering' a new place with a really good friend. I'll attach some photos to this post once I get them up.

I got some windsurfing in this weekend as well! Finally! The monsoon is gone and the wind's my kind of crappy wind. Of course all the big-time windsurfers are grumbling, but hey, they had their fun the past two months, it's time for me to get some windsurfing it! A good 1/2 hour of it to be exact. And boy did I ache for the next 2 days. It's amazing how quickly my muscles got used to slacking off.

What I did since the race:
Last Thursday: Ran 3.5k
Yesterday: Ran 7k in 53 mins

Singapore Sprint Series (Aquathlon) Race Report

This has to be the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. To start off with, I spent the night before freaking out about the numerous injuries I would have after the swim leg. I've obviously heard too many stories about bloodied noses and black eyes to be able to even have a nice, peaceful night's sleep before the race. Needless to say, like all the other races, I woke up at about 4am thinking I was late. I should just come to terms with the fact that I will always be doing this in future.

There were no hiccups all the way till the start of the race, minus a few moments of shock when G (my rockstar race buddy) and I realised that a 750m swim was a lot less further than we imagined. But G and I had a game plan. In order not to be kicked in the face, we decided to start at the back, way back, essentially as far back as one could possibly get. It was a stupid stupid game plan and I realised that as soon as I started the swim leg. Good gawd, I can't even remember being kicked that many times before by my own fair sex. And because I was at the back, I was stuck with a whole bunch of breast-strokers, which meant more kicking. My goggles got kicked off halfway through, resulting in me treading water and trying to get the water out; I got completely winded when I got a foot in my chest; and one evil b***h tried shoving me down.

I have never felt so out of my depth before. I didn't think I was the fastest swimmer in the world, but I always thought I was a rather strong (which again, doesn't mean fast) swimmer, but the number of times I had to tell myself not to panic was unbelievable. And forget about clear waters blah blah, Sentosa's waters are every bit as crap as the waters at East Coast, minus the garbage floating around you. Half the time I was veering too far right or too far left and because of my need to stick near the buoys, I kept swimming into in. Real clever, huh.

With the swim leg, because of length of the lagoon, we had to swim to one end, run round a cone and swim back again. R, who had come down to give me some moral support, said he witnessed me physically sigh at the start of the lap back. Well, it felt like hell knowing that there was still some more torture to go, so I wasn't all too surprised.

Swim leg was done and I stumbled out of the sea to the transition area, where frankly all I wanted then was for the whole thing to end. I was tired, wet, uncoordinated, thirsty and I had spent what felt like forever in the sea mentally encouraging myself. Somehow though, I stumbled along for the run. Along the way, I saw my best girl pal and CH, who had also come down to cheer me on, bless their souls, and it picked me up a little. G had come out of the water a little behind me and she had caught up with me by now. Thank the good Lord for her, because I swear, without her, I would probably have just walked the entire run leg. So plod through we did and at the end I had to ditch her for the last 100m and just make a wild dash through. It was the 'the faster I get to the finish line, the sooner this will all be over' logic that you almost instantly regret as soon as you make that dash.

Overall, it was a good feeling finishing it, not because I felt the race was fun at any point of time, but because it was so insanely difficult that to complete it felt like I had unlocked some part of my brain...I know it all sounds very abstract but I just can't think of any other way to describe it. The best part about the race though was seeing those friendly faces at the end, that my best friends were there to go through my moment of torture with me, made me feel all fluffy and warm inside.

Race results:
Swim (750m) 23:02mins
Transition 1:40mins (I was really dreading leaving the transition area)
Run (5k) 33:46mins
Overall time 58:29mins

I finished 36 out of 42 for my category, which is crap, but hell, it's my first bi-athlon and I'm really thrilled I finished it under an hour without drowning!

One Long Swim and a Bunch of Allergies

Yesterday I got home to get a long swim in before dinner. And that I did! All of one and a half friggin' kilometres, doods! I totally kicked ass! It was a sweet, sweet night.

Of course all good things must come to an end and today I wake up with a strange rash on my legs and arms. Headed off to the docs to get that checked out, since that annoying allergy cough I had previously is back with a vengeance (thanks to the haze the past couple of days) and I needed that treated. The bombshell was dropped on me - I may be allergic to alcohol....Noooooooo! Don't get me wrong, I'm not so hardcore an alcoholic that I require a drink to get me through the day, but I'd like to think that a night of drinkies wouldn't result in a breakout of hives the next day. Bah.

What I did last night:
Swam 1.5k (phweet phweet!) in 41 minutes

An Attempt at a Long Run

I say attempt because I swear I really did intend to run all the way home, but I ran out of motivation and grit pretty early on in the run. It's been really hot in Singapore due to the 'bush fires' (I feel stupid using 'bush fires' in the Singapore context because the 'fires' here seem so trivial compared to Aussie bush fires) and the haze that has descended on us. I felt like I was just running in a sauna after 10 minutes and decided to just cut the misery short. Nonetheless, it was a pretty good run - I got to take my new backpack out for its virgin run and it performed well under pressure; I ran 6.5k, almost stitch-less might I add, which is really the furthest I've run in over a month; and it was a decent last run before the Aquathlon on Sunday. So the game plan is one last long swim tonight and then I'll be taking a 2 day break....maybe squeeze in a bit of my much neglected windsurfing on Saturday morning!

What I did yesterday:
Ran 6.5k in 48:58 mins

Career Crisis

A little background, I work for a hedge fund (yes, I still have a job!) and this has actually been my longest job to date. I think I have a pretty short attention span, considering the million and one sports I take up and give up...soooo anyway, it's pretty impressive that I've been here for almost 2 years now! I'm not complaining though, because I'm working with a team of crazily intelligent doods who've also become great friends.

Just the other day though, the boss-man asked me to think about how I wanted to develop my career going forward and that has somehow caused a huge crisis (I'm sure by now everyone more or less realises I'm melodramatic). It's not that I'm unhappy where I am, but the future also seems kind of hazy at the moment. I know I'm being completely ungrateful, people are getting laid off every day and here I am whining about figuring out my life's purpose, but don't get me wrong, I am thankful every day that I'm where I am. I just wonder whether there should be something more I should be pursuing to enhance my presence at work.

I've toyed around with the idea of doing a Masters in Law, but it just seems completely pointless when I don't really have any intention of working in the legal line. Plus I've always only enjoyed the coursework bit of Law - reading through tons of journals and writing a long essay on it. Then I've thought about doing the bar in Singapore, but for the same reasons, it just seems quite pointless.

Another friend suggested doing an MBA, but it just seems too network-y for me. Granted I'm being a tad biased - I think there are quite a number of MBA graduates who're real pompous asses - but an MBA is a lot of work and a lot of money! I could probably come up with the money, but then the one thing I love about my job now is the time! I have time to go for a run after work, I have my weekends free to windsurf if I choose to...I feel very reluctant to give that up somehow.

So after all the pondering I've come to realise that I still have no idea what I want from life. Which doesn't sit too well with me, I've always needed to have an idea of where I'd be in 10 years time, but currently I have no idea, no plan and absolutely no focus, which is slightly scary. On the flipside, I am doing that whole 'living life for the moment' thing.

A Wasted Weekend

I was very lazy this weekend. I find it funny that the closer I get to the biathlon, the less motivated I am to move a muscle. I was pretty good last week, did a miserable stitch-filled 4k run on Wednesday followed by a morning swim on Thursday. And then I did nothing for two days. Friday was my rest day, so I didn't feel too bad sitting around staring at the TV, but when that dragged on to Saturday, my conscience started acting up a little. But still not enough to get me to move my sorry ass. In spite of the slight pangs of guilt, I managed to spend a lovely night with R. He whipped up a kickass curry and we headed out to watch a hilarious play 'What the Butler Saw'. Then it was off to the Dubliner to catch the rugby with a bunch of the work doods. All in all, it was a nice chilled out Saturday (I convinced myself at the end that watching a sport I didn't really enjoy was more or less equivalent to doing a lot of sport).

I think I somewhat redeemed myself on Sunday though. After sleeping in and waking up in time for lunch, finishing lunch and heading back to sleep again, I hauled myself over to the pool to do 15 laps (ended up being 16 laps somehow) and then a 5k run. I felt like dying at the end of it. But at least I did it all (and a little bit more considering the extra lap I swam)!

What I've done:
Last Wednesday - Ran 4k in 33:35mins (had a stitch halfway and had to walk...what's new)
Last Thursday - Did 10 laps in what I considered a relatively fast pace

Sunday
- Swam 960m in 26:05mins
- Ran 5k in 33:06 min

The Wonders of Jet Lag

I'm finally back from Canada where I did a lot of snowboarding, went snowshoeing once and cycled twice around Stanley Park. I love Vancouver so much! I love the weather, the people (except for one exceptionally bitchy sales person at Hollister called 'Molly'...evil lady), the snow, the lights....Every year I come back home thinking the same thing and every year I resolve to head down to Australia mid-year to get some more snowboarding experience under my belt. Of course, being me of the short attention span, come mid-year I'd have discovered some completely random other thing to do and the Australia idea gets thrown out the window. We'll see how that works out.

Anyway, I arrived back Sunday night and started work the next day and so far the jet lag hasn't been awfully bad. I slept at half past midnight on Sunday and woke up around 7 in the morning. I did an interval session midday - completely stupid because I hadn't run in 2 weeks and I felt dizzy and nauseous...and I hate the treadmill! - and that pathetically short session kept me awake all the way till dinner, where the jet lag hit me. Being the last day of Chinese New Year, we had to go out and do the good Chinese thing and have dinner together so that carried me through till 10pm and therein I died.

Well, after all my longwinded rambling, my point is today I woke up at 6am and managed 15 laps in the pool. And I know I've gone on about how people who exercise in the morning are insane, but it sure is nice waking up really early and having some exercise done before the day really starts. Jet lag rocks...when you're on its good side!

What I did:
Monday - interval training (running fast and loose with the term 'training')
Tuesday - Swam 15 laps in 26:27 mins