The Longest 2km Ever

After doing nothing except maybe a swim or two during the festive period because I was either banned by my podiatrist from running or just down with the flu, I decided to go for a run yesterday. I figured it'd be good to get a couple of km under my belt before the adventure race on Sunday that I have done absolutely no training for.

I pretty much got a stitch not very far into the run and I had to slow to a walk just under 1km. After walking off the stitch, I managed to get back into a sort of trot-run and then it was back to walking again. It took me a good 20 minutes to finish 2km which is a complete morale sap. And despite it being such a pathetic attempt at a run, my foot still hurt after and I had to ice it again. Ah joy. I foresee the upcoming adventure race being a wonderfully enjoyable event!

Meantime, I got my results back from the X-ray I did last week and I have no fractures (woohoo!) but the sesamoids on my left foot are considerably smaller than those on my right. Essentially they're not happy with all the weight on them. As to why they were perfectly fine for 30 over years of my life but are now acting up is beyond me. All the same, woohoo for no fractures!

What I've done:

Saturday - 1.5k swim 

-                     360m warm up

-                     240m drills

-                     240m kicks

-                     120m strokes

-                     240m free/breast

-                     240m IM swim

-                     240m cool down

Yesterday – 2k run/walk

The Fine Line

Yesterday I went on my run hungry. I'd eaten an early lunch and all I had for tea was a quinoa cookie, so before I started my run my stomach was growling. I figured if I just drank a whole bunch of water it'd help that. Well boys and girls, it doesn't. My original plan to run from the train station all the way home got halved and I had to get on a bus to go the rest of the way. Talk about humiliating.

It was insanely hot yesterday as well which didn't help at all. About 1.5k into the run I was dripping sweat and feeling exceedingly hungry. I stopped at one of the traffic lights and when I started again, my legs just felt like lead and I just couldn't find any energy to drag them along. I think I struggled through maybe another 2k before I called it a night.

The thing that went through my head throughout the run was why running was just such a miserable sport. Granted there are days where I love the run and all that, but then there are so many more days where I just want it all to be over very early in the run. I don't get that swimming. Other than when the coach makes us do ridiculous interval sets, I rarely ever am in the pool thinking 'oh my gawd, when is this going to end?' And just the number of parts that ache when I run is ridiculous. People ask me 'why do you run if you don't enjoy it?' and really I think there are only 2 reasons - 1. I wouldn't enjoy stopping as much as I do if I never ran and 2. every time I see some guy/girl running and how they make it look effortless, I forget how much I ache and feel like crap half the time and wish I were running with them. I'm calling it running amnesia. That'd be the only way to explain why instead of looking at someone running and going 'thank goodness that's not me', more often than not, I'm thinking 'I wish I were running'. Weird, but true.

Maybe I'm just in a slump and need to find a way to get out of this. I also need to find that fine line where I'm not overly hungry or completely stuffed before I do my next run.

What I've done:
Tuesday - 1hr swim training (covered 2k)
Yesterday - 30 minute run

Recovery Be Damned

I signed up for a halfie in November. I was won over by the whole 'women's only half marathon' and thought 'ooh that'd be fun!' Only, after getting myself registered, I suddenly recalled that I didn't half like running all that far and I found out that it started at 5.30am. Oh joy.

So my post-race, laze-around-and-be-a-couch-potato plans got thwarted by my over enthusiasm at this whole 'all women half marathon' and all I had is a good 2 days to pig out and do squat. Yesterday I got back to some semblance of 'training' if you might call it that - only I didn't do any running. The sky's been a bit crap lately. Thanks to the lovely folk over in Indonesia (Sumatra to be exact) and deforestation by slash and burn, the air this way has been pretty hazy. I could run on the yawn-mill, but let's be serious...that really isn't likely to happen. So in training for my halfie all I've done so far (and that was all done yesterday) was to go for a spin class and a 1/2 hour session in the pool where I think I managed only 1.25k in distance....ah well, we'll write them off as recovery work-outs.

I was going to run tonight but my good friend Jeanne just rang to say she was in town for a layover for a couple more hours. Talk about last minute notice! No running tonight, instead I shall be knocking them beers back and catching up with an old friend I haven't seen in ages now! Come on, surely that's a better way to spend a Wednesday night than doing a 5k run. I'm not even going to bother to pretend that I'll wake up super early to do my run tomorrow. Ain't happening.

What I've done
Yesterday:
45 min spin
1/2 hr swim training

Sickies

Be warned, this is going to be a 'poor me' rant. I promise to keep it short though!

And I was doing so well! I think I got through almost half a year without falling ill. Then again, I was following a better schedule than I was the last week. I just rediscovered Touched By an Angel and I've been keeping stupid hours. Urgh, going to load up on the Vitamin C, Echinacea, and garlic...ain't no Vampires hanging out with me for the next couple of days!

I've also gone off and injured my right shoulder, so I've been told to lay off the front crawl for a week at least. Which makes swim training a little bit lame. Plus I've to do a whole bunch of strengthening exercises to get my shoulder blade to stop shifting so much and screwing up my tendon again. Not fun. To top that off, my right toe was hurting too and I went for a run (yes yes, I thought I'd run off the pain) and aggravated it, so was told to lay off running for at least a week too. So essentially all I can do by way of training is cycle...Blech.

When it rains, it really pours.

Okay, rant over!


What I've Done:

Saturday - Swim training (2.1K)

Monday - Ran 4k in 28 mins

Tuesday - Swim training (kicks and breast stroke only - 800m)

Here's What's Dumb

What's dumb? Having a 2hr rock climbing class right after swim training. It basically made the session kind of pointless since my arms starting trembling pretty much 1/3 way into the session. Which made for a rather short climb session. Ah well, you learn from your stupidity eh?

I overdid Saturday. I wanted to swim, climb, get some of my assignment (I'm taking some graduate diploma in compliance) done, head to church and do all that before my grandmother's 80th birthday dinner. When I got to dinner I was exhausted. But it was good fun meeting with the extended family and catching up.

What I did:

Saturday
- 1hr swim training (Total: 2.3k)

- 1.5hr rock climbing

Sunday
- 40 min trek @ Bkt Timah Nature Reserve

Personal Trainer-less

Ever since I quit my personal trainer, I haven't been doing any weights at all. Zip, nada, zilch. I remember vaguely justifying why I didn't need personal training classes with 'I can go down to the gym to use the weights any time. I don't need to pay someone $100 bucks to tell me how to use weights!' Obviously after I quit my trainer, I also quit going to the gym do anything other than spin classes or shower. It seems if I don't feel $100 poorer, there isn't much motivation to weight train.

After weeks and weeks of telling myself I had to fit a strength training session somewhere in the week and procrastinating; on Wednesday I had the choice of either doing a 5k run or doing calisthenics at home. Neither was very appealing. That probably explained me finding everything under the sun to do before actually deciding that I'd rather just do something in the comfort of air conditioning.

I did a quick 5 minute warm-up on the elliptical then proceeded to do a kind of circuit training of sorts. 10 crunches, 10 side-crunches, 10 girly push-ups, 10 lunges, 10 squats, 10 dips...then I pushed it to 15 on the next set and stayed at 15 for the 3rd set. I was sweating like a pig at the end of it. It wasn't even as if I was doing all this with weights strapped to my arms even, but I was just knackered at the end. And this was barely even a 30 minute work-out in all!

Two days later I still have to lower myself carefully into my seat because my thighs are aching. Actually, everything that could ache is aching. And after swim training last night, everything is aching more than it was yesterday. That being said I haven't ached in a long time, so this actually feels pretty good!

On a side note, a good friend of mine is now cycling Japan. He's putting me to such shame. I want to say I'll do the same someday, but I really doubt it. Everyone makes cycling look easy. It sure as hell doesn't feel that way when I'm in the saddle. And I'm talking flat roads here. He's going up and down mountains and still going on. Nutter!

What I've done:
Tuesday: Swim training
Wednesday: 30 minutes calisthenics
Thursday: Swim training (2.2k total)

A Snake and A Cramp

I've been a little bit better and a little bit less lazy last week. I did a 4k run the day after my first spin class in ages last week and did that in fairly alright considering the state my legs were in! Lately I've taken to running close to the office after work and just showering at my gym (Have to make full use of my 60 buck gym fees every month!). It's been a nice change and running up and down the bridge on Nicoll Highway provides that nice change in er...altitude(?!). The leg back is along the sea so it's all very pretty - insofar as you can call the waters around Singapore being pretty. All the same, I saw my first snake whilst running last week! And it scared me every bit as much as I scared it. But it was black and long and I may never take that short cut again.

Other than that run and the Nike run on Saturday, the only thing I've been doing more of these days is swimming. I did a sad 1/2 hour session last week before the Comedy show at the Club last week and then dragged myself out of bed on Saturday for the morning training.

Yesterday I went for spin again and my legs don't ache as much as they did last week! Woohoo! I also went for swim training in the evening and boy was it tough! Essentially my instructor has decided that Bernie, this nice Irish lady at training, and I match each other pace-wise. So when it came to the intervals he paired us both up. Which sucks. Because I couldn't slack off at all! It's not even as if I felt I had to beat her. I just felt that even if I lost to her I couldn't lose by too much. I think there was a point where I was thinking 'damn you Bernie, let up already! I can't slow down until you slow down!' Well, she didn't slow down. I didn't slow down. And we both wound up knackered at the end of training. We were also the last ones in the pool. I also had my first ever cramp in my foot! And right after I cooled down with a slow 50m swim. Which goes to show that my body is allergic to too much exercise!

What I did:
Last Wednesday - 4k run
Last Thursday - 30 mins swim training

Saturday
- 1 hr swim training
- Nike run

Yesterday
- 45 mins spin
- 1 hr swim training

Better but Barely

I've been swimming more than I've been on my bike. I think it's the curse of the Bintan Triathlon - I just can't seem to bring myself to get on my bike!

What I've done:

Last Tuesday - 1hr Swim Training
Last Thursday - Ran 4k
Last Friday - Does spending a whole day on my feet at Universal Studios count?
Last Saturday - 1hr Swim Training

Where Goes My Mojo?

So I did a big fat zero by way of training last week. I did a lot of “I’ll do such and such tomorrow” but actual physical exertion? Zip, zilch, nada. And nothing helped to make me feel bad enough to lift a finger. I went to youtube and watched people running, swimming or biking; read countless sporty blogs and still I couldn’t find my mojo.

In all, I feel a little bad. And I couldn’t even enjoy my short little break because I just spent everyday feeling just that little twinge of guilt that wasn’t big enough to make me move but wasn’t quite small enough that I was going to bed feeling quite at peace with myself (or more the way my so-called ‘training’ was going). More than that twinge of guilt thought, is the growing fear that with the Bintan sprint triathlon looming closer and closer, I’m wasting precious time lazing instead of putting in bike hours. And mainly, I just really don't want to push my bike up at the beginning of the bike leg like I did last year.

I moved a bit on the weekend, just to make myself feel somewhat better. I was supposed to do a 5k fun run on Saturday, but it got rained out and after sitting around waiting for the rain to stop, I decided about a half hour before the postponed flag-off to go off for breakfast (and convinced my friend to come along as well). Which meant my forced exercise that weekend was blown. I went for a pathetic excuse of a swim instead. 2 x 300m in all. It wasn’t anything to cry about. Pfffft.

On Sunday, Rich and I cycled from his place (via park connectors and sidewalks) to Robertson Quay and got lunch before cycling back. It came up to 10k. And mostly I held him back because I was the biggest wuss and was terrified of narrow pathways. This is what happens when you don’t ride regularly – every damn thing makes you freaked out that you’d fall off your bike. I think I need a good fall to get over this. Nonetheless, we made it through without a scrap (but with a lot of ‘oh crap!’ and ‘woah!’ shouts along the way) and I quite enjoyed it. We did learn from this slow, not-so-long ride though that firstly we probably should have started earlier than noon; and secondly we should probably have sloshed on some sunblock! I have the weirdest tan lines on my back and Rich is just…well…red in various places. All fun and games.

What I did:
Last Monday to Friday – Absolutely nothing
Saturday – 2 x 300m swim
Sunday – 2 x 5k bike (and lunch in between – green curry, yum yum!)
Yesterday – 1 hr personal training (aching so much now!)

The Best Laid Plans

Are oft thwarted by my laziness. Remember my training schedule I put up? It was a little ambitious, but I thought I'd at least keep to 70% of it. So far I'm swinging for 10%...if even.

I lazed on Monday and skipped swim training on Tuesday (with the excuse that I would wake up early to swim on Wednesday instead...guess what happened with that!) and finally decided I had to at least do something run-wise since I had promised Rach that we would do a fun run together for her virgin 5k mass run. So after my colleague dropped me off on Wednesday after work, I ran the rest of the way home. A grand total of 4.5k! Not quite 5k, but close enough.

Just as I started the run, there was sheet lightning and a part of me was tempted to just go 'Screw this! It's not worth killing myself over a run!' but I overcame my sorry excuses (yay me!) and started off...a little bit faster than usual since sheet lightning does freak me out a little. It started drizzling a little mid-run which was all good, because it is just so much more pleasant running in rain!

All in, this wasn't my best run, but it wasn't my worst either. My MP3 player, which showed an empty battery gauge at the start of the run and actually lasted the whole run, made the run just a little sweeter - you know, the whole 'Will I make it before this dies? Will I not?' question. And when you find it lasts all the way through you thank God for small mercies! Plus that debate in your head takes away from all the ankle aches, thigh aches, shin aches, calf aches...you get the drift.

My legs were a bit tired the next day. Not sore. Technically I could have woken up super early and gone for a swim yesterday morning. Technically.

What I've done:

Last Saturday - Ran 2.5k (and I ached the whole next day!)

Last Sunday - Swam 1.8k (2 x 300m with paddles, 2 x 600m without paddles)

With paddles
1st 300m - 7:35 mins
Rest - 21s
2nd 300m - 6:58 mins
Rest - 26s

Without paddles
1st 600m - 15:48 mins
Rest - 20s
2nd 600m - 14:24 mins

Wednesday - Ran 4.5k in 30:14 mins

Sports Injuries

I really wish I had more 'glamorous' sports injuries like 'oh I ran so fast I broke my leg in the process'...or at least something not as lame as me tripping over my toe and spraining in as I got into the pool. Which of course is what I did last night at swim training. I got out of the pool to get my paddles and then pretty much stumbled back into the pool. So now my fourth toe is aching and the bit that scraped against the wall of the pool just keeps oozing clear liquid. Lovely.

Yesterday's training was short as well. I had to catch stand-up comedy with Rich after training, so had to leave pretty much after a half hour session. So it's not like I sacrificed my toe for something big. I think I managed three 150m sets (swim/kick/drill) and 4 x 200m pull sets. Meh. Didn't really feel like I did much.

What I did:
Yesterday - 1/2 hour of swim training
Today - 1hr personal training

Morning People

I'm not a morning person. Not to say I get up cranky and need that first cup of coffee to get me in a favourable mood, but I just find it torture dragging myself out of bed in the morning. As you know, from numerous entries, I struggle constantly with morning work-outs. I make these well-intentioned plans to wake up stupidly early and go for a swim or a run, and fail more often than not.

Yesterday evening I was supposed to do a swim and somehow managed to convince (lie to!) myself that I would wake up super early the next morning and swim then instead. This morning my alarm clock rang at 6am and I only managed by sheer willpower to crawl out of my bed at 7.15am (silently cursing myself whilst trying to reason out in my head why it would be better to stay in bed). I washed up with my eyes barely open and trudged down to the pool.

Firstly it was a little cold outside, as it usually feels when you've just woken up. Secondly the pool having not been warmed up by the sun all day was just freezing. If it weren't for the fact that there were 2 guys doing laps in the pool and making me feel a bit like a wimp for wussing out, I would have just stumbled back home to sleep. But instead I shivered a little and started on my laps grumbling.

Now because I had woken up a good 1 hour and 15 minutes after I was supposed to I didn't have time to do all the wonderful things I had planned to do the night before. So I ended up doing half the program and in my dazed state, thought I had hit the timer on my watch, but didn't. Essentially I swam 2 x 300m and have no idea how long each set took.

And now I'm sleepy.

What I did today:
Swam - 2 x 300m

Singapore has No Hills

But it didn't feel like that yesterday. Partly because I was lazy to haul my bike halfway across the island for a 20k ride and partly because I wanted to check out something different. "Different" kicked my sorry little ass.

Rifle Range Road is a 5-minute drive from where I stay and is basically a long (I thought flat-ish...so wrong!) road that is about 2.5k from Mayfair Park to the end of the road. I parked the gas guzzler at the end of the road and still didn't have any inkling of the pain and burn that was to come. In fact, I had walked that road twice to get from the Nature Reserve to Macritchie and yet I still had it in my head that it was all going to be a nice, pleasant ride.

Long story short, it was torture. I haven't been on my bike properly in ages and my legs actually felt like it had rusted over. I had to go to my absolute lowest gear to get up some of the slopes and my lungs felt like they'd burst at the top of each climb. Obviously I also felt a bit like a loser especially with all these runners, long boarders and hikers around me silently judging (or so I thought) my slow, slow plodding up the dang slopes. Needless to say, I rode out and back and popped my bike back on my car and drove home. I was past the point of caring if anyone noticed I had only gone down to do a 15 min bike ride and a grand total of 5k.

So although I was supposed to put in 20k of cycling in this weekend, I only managed 5k. I think I was also supposed to squeeze in a run. It would seem I’m not doing so well following my schedule!

What I did:
Sat: 4 x 300m swim
Sun: 5k bike ride (woohoo!)

So the Training Starts...

And already I've skipped what I was supposed to do on Wednesday and Thursday. It is a trial getting back training. Everything aches so much. After my personal training on Monday and my swim training on Tuesday, I was pretty much all out. So since it was still the start of the training schedule, I figured I could use a break. Tomorrow I shall start again!

What I've done:
Monday - 45 mins personal training
Tuesday - Swim training (Total distance: 2.1k)

So Far So Good

Not sick so far and keeping my fingers firmly crossed.

In the meantime I've managed to fit in a walk/trek at Bukit Timah Hill with friends twice and I've done a bunch of runs. Bukit Timah Hill is really challenging. I keep forgetting that somehow and every time I go back it hits me really quickly how much the uphill stair climb is just sheer torture. I do like though that, in my head, it somehow translates to a great ass workout!

Oh on a side note, R and I went to Macritchie to do a trail run (although half of that run was on a boardwalk, so not really trail) yesterday and I have to say, the people at the Nature Reserve just seem a lot friendlier than the Macritchie crowd. I mean it's nice when people say a cheery 'good morning' every now and then. I think I said 'Good Morning!' to only one person yesterday...or rather I greeted a few people but got ignored. People need to be nicer in our world!

What I've done since my last update a gazillion years ago:

14th Oct: Ran 5k in 35:09 mins
15th Oct: 1hr walk with B at Bkt Timah Hill
16th Oct: 600m swim
17th Oct: 1hr personal training
20th Oct: Ran 8k in 58:16 mins
22nd Oct: Cross-trainer 10 mins and some number of crunches
23rd Oct: 2hr walk with D at Kampong Trail/Bkt Timah Hill
24th Oct: Ran 5k in 34:24 mins
26th Oct: Ran 4k at Macritchie in 29:29 mins

One Weekend, Two Runs

And I even squeezed in a swim in between. Okay, the runs were pretty lame distances, but well....baby steps.

I did a miserable 4k run on Saturday before my power boat practical class and I started way too late on in the day. Despite the fact that 9.30am to me is pretty damn early, it is just too darn hot to run any distance. I was supposed to do 6k and at 3k I pretty much slowed down to a trot and called it a day after taking the short cut home. Then I did a few crunches to make myself feel better about life and my fitness level. It is actually rather sad that I constantly feel this need to justify my laziness to myself.

I spend Sunday eating way too much and lazing all afternoon. I did get some reading done ('One Hundred Years of Solitude' has to be one of the most confusing books I've ever read - every next person is called Aureliano or Jose Arcadio!) at Starbucks and was going to nap at home when I finally decided to just get my act together and just do a swim or a run or anything. I ended up putting in 360m in the pool and another 2.5k on the road. It was a lot less miserable. Which brings me to the conclusion that I can't do sport in the morning. I will still struggle to try and wake up early enough, but frankly it ain't happening for me!

What I did

Saturday: 4k run in 30:04 mins

Sunday:
360m swim
2.5k run in 16:31 mins

Back in the Pool

Here's what's happened since my last post:

1. I did a walk with a friend, B. Same route Rich and I took the last time, but it was nice introducing it to someone else.

2. Went to Hua Hin for the Jazz Festival and it was pretty good fun. Not as many international acts as I had expected, but my favourite bit of the Festival was this awesome ‘face-off’ improv bit between the bassist and the drummer. Very good. Also somehow for a free concert, I thought it was better run than many of Singapore’s outdoor concerts. A lot less contrived somehow. But mainly Hua Hin is my new favourite place and I got to meet up with my good friend, T, in Bangkok as well!

3. Singapore has a new President (not so new now, since this is 5 days after the event)!

4. I went to Universal Studios in Singapore finally! I think the one in LA is better, but this is much, much better than Hong Kong Disney! And I might have rediscovered my love for roller-coasters. Well, maybe not ‘love’, but somewhere in that region. I stuffed my face with all sorts of junk food, which really what going to an amusement park is all about. Not too smart before you take a roller-coaster that constantly spins you around though!

5. I finally got into the pool again. I swam 600m on Tuesday and 1k 20m (sorry 30m pool so distances are weird). I ache now. Swim training tonight. I’ll probably ache more tomorrow. See what happens when you leave everything to the last minute?

Day #6: Swim

No idea how far I swam, but I do know now that swimming in a heated pool in an even hotter Macau is just not a whole lot of fun. Plus whilst swimming I could make out strands of hair in the pool. Can you say gross loudly enough??? So I guess the pools in a casino-hotel aren't made for swim training....I got tired of meandering around families or children and couples making out in the pool, so basically called it a day after less than 20 minutes. Real yucky swim....blech

Day #1: 600m Swim

I've decided to take inspiration from Jess and her 21 Day Habit and try to get back into the groove of things by just training (read: struggling through some activity) for 21 days (it takes 21 days to form a habit and all). I'm in a slump right now and really need a big kick in the back side.

So to start off, I did 600m in the pool last night. I planned it such that I'd be at the pool at a time when the annoying little brats were back home having dinner, but evidently I'm not that great a planner. A huge group of kids decided to play ball in the middle of the pool. You'd think their parents would tell them to be nice to the swimmer who's meandering around them and stick to one corner instead of using the entire pool, but no such luck. The parents joined in (of course they would!). After getting kicked in the head once and having a kid swim over me, I was resigned to the fact that they were likely to be there throughout my swim and convinced myself that at least I was having some real race simulation kicks and all! Can't beat that!

Nat, Small Addie and I are taking part as a team in the Mega Tri (or most crazy expensive race in the world - 400 SGD!!!) in September and it should be fun. I think I have the best deal because I pretty much just have to finish a 1k swim, while Nat has to clock 65k on her bike and Small Addie has a whole 18k to run! Hats off to the girls who have a much harder race than me! It'd be fun taking part in a triathlon as a team and I can hardly wait (also I can't bail out of it). So keep your prayers and best wishes for Team Short Fart - the shortest (literally!) team in the race!


What I've done

Yesterday: 600m @ 16:02 mins

Countdown to the OSIM Mini Tri

Yeah, fat load of training I'm doing coming up to it. I was supposed to have a whole bunch of races this month, but somehow between sore throats and stomach flues, I've succeeded in missing all of them.

I've also succeeded in not training, which meant as of last weekend a part of me started freaking out a little. Not enough it seems, because although I made a bunch of big plans for Saturday, I ended up lazing around instead. So Sunday was when the big catch-up training session started and I managed a swim-bike brick. I was supposed to head to East Coast early in the morning to do a proper bike ride, but ended up sleeping in and then popping my bike on the spinner.

Personal training on Monday and guess who forgot to bring her shoes? Ended up having a kick-boxing session instead, which was pretty fun. I did realise that I'm having a bit of a dodgy left ankle when I kicked the bag with my left foot and got hit by a shot of pain. Need to go get that sorted soon.

Swim training yesterday and it was so so so tiring. Also it was weird, there were only 4 people who showed up and I was the only girl. Great to have a whole lane to myself so when I did the backstroke drills I could swim all crooked and not worry about hitting someone in the face!

Despite all this, I really need to get my training mojo back!

What I've done:

Sunday: 300m swim / 30 min spin
Monday: 1 hr kick-boxing
Tuesday: 1 hr swim training (Total distance covered: 2KM)