Tonight I Run

It's been a real pain. Every time I get back on the training schedule, I fall ill. I don't even know how many times I've been ill this year. Sucks. Basically I've been sick the last week. I got back from Samui/Phangan with a flu then pretty much ended any hope I had of doing the Nike Run. So while R and G had a guilt-free champagne brunch buffet after to celebrate, I just stuffed my face in celebration of well...being ill. And I just felt a bit left out when everyone was talking about how the race went.

Yesterday I went back for Personal Training and did some weights. I'm still a bit coughy, but going to head for a 5k run tonight and get an early night. Hopefully this doesn't mean I get ill tomorrow because I would really like to get to where I can run 10k at one go and not get sick the next day!

What I've done:
1hr personal training

Old Bag of Bones

Yesterday was the start of my 12-week training for the half marathon I'm doing at the end of the year.



It did not go well. I was tired, my legs felt wonky and my system was all "what the hell do you think you're doing?!?!" It wasn't very fun. Only thing going for me were some awesome songs that I've not been listening to while on my running hiatus.

Today, my poor right knee is aching and my thighs are shot. My ankle hurts too. Everything starts falling apart in your 30s and I can finally acknowledge I'm no spring chicken!

What I did:
Ran 5km in 35:44mins

The Countdown Begins!

6 more days to the Tri-Factor Triathlon and I still feel rather unprepared. On one hand, I feel like I haven't quite run far enough, swam long enough and biked often enough. But on the other, I have tried biking and running after (which I didn't do at the OSIM triathlon) and I think in that sense, I am more prepared for the burn!

**Rant alert**
I don't understand what it is with people going on about how short the distances are for this triathlon and laughing about how I'm doing a lame triathlon when they're the same people who sit on their asses all day doing nothing. Bah!

What I've done:

Last Tuesday
- 45 minute core yoga class
- Swim training

I still dislike yoga immensely. I dislike the lady with the stupid zen voice and I dislike how it's just such a static sport.

Last Friday
- 45 minute Spin Class

Which I think I will never ever turn up for again. I think there are two kinds of people in the world - one who require people screaming at them to get anything done and the other who needs to be encouraged/persuaded to get something done. I belong to the latter group of people. I don't see why I should go for a class to be screamed at. I'm not a pro-athlete and frankly I need someone to push me a little bit more, not someone to insist that her way is the right way and me wind up with a knee ache the next day.

Saturday
- 1 hr Pilates

Because of knee ache, I just didn't get as much out of it as I would like to have.

Sunday
- 30 minute bike ride + 2.5k run in 17 minutes

I bought myself a trainer because I realise that it's easy to justify not biking when I have the excuse of how it is a real hassle hauling my bike to and fro from East Coast. So no excuses now, if I'm too lazy to drive down to East Coast, I just set my bike up and spin away. Cons: It is soooooo dull and warm biking on a trainer!

Today
- 45 minute TRX session with my personal trainer

I expect my abs won't be too happy tomorrow seeing how I whooped its ass today!

More Update on My Bowel Movements

Still crapping/leaking oil out my ass. Am really beginning to wish I didn't have the dang white tuna. 5 sashimi slices...that was it...and here I am paying for that 'indulgence'. Hopefully all will be well tomorrow. I have big plans to go for swim training and I'm not sure I really want to whilst I have this embarrassing situation on my hands. So...this serves as a word of warning...avoid white tuna/escolar/butterfish/whatever the hell else it's called with your life! Well unless you feel a great need to experience the joy of oily poops. Consider yourself warned! Let's pray that this is the end of my poop stories for now!

Happy Birthday Singapore

Well, a belated one. So this weekend we had Monday off. I did nothing except a pilates class. It's kind of a crappy time for me and frankly I really look forward to the day I look back on all this and think I'm being a drama queen. In the meantime I'm just feeling out of sorts and numb down to my insides. I miss being happy.

What I did:
Last Thursday: Swim training - First time doing interval training...I wanted to die (2.2k)

Last Saturday: Pilates 1 hr

My First Attempt at Getting Back into Things

Total FAIL. So I still have that nagging little cough that absolutely refuses to disappear. It's not even a real cough, just like this little cough that comes up every couple of hours. Bah.

On Sunday I decided enough was enough. When I was doing stuff, at least if I had a bad day, I'd take a swim or a run (well, rarely now), now at one of the more drama moments in my life I have no outlet to release all this pent-up angst. I've tried talking about things over many many glasses of wine. But frankly, I'm tired of the wine, tired of the talking and all I really want to do is go out and do something!

So Sunday I decided I needed to get a bike ride in. I took my poor neglected bike out and realised my tyres were kind of flat. No problem I thought, there was a bike shop by the main road, so all I had to do was cycle out and get the tyres all pumped up and then I could head to East Coast Park and get a 20k bike ride in. The shop was shut. Well, I wasn't going to throw a tantrum just yet! There were at least 4 bike shops all the way from Second Avenue to Sixth Avenue and that was just a short cab ride away.

However, after getting turned down by 4 cabbies - because I had a bike and they couldn't be arsed to open their boots...and I couldn't be bothered to argue with them about how I knew my bike would fit in because I've popped it in the boot numerous times - I was getting kind of at the end of my patience. Thankfully a very nice and kind taxi stopped and helped me load my bike and we were on our way!

Judging by how I'm the official jinx of this year's World Cup (every single team I've supported has been kicked out), I wasn't too successful with my bid to get my tyres pumped. All the shops were shut. Every.Single.One. Siiiiiiigh.....

What was my solution? I dragged my bike over to my neighbourhood bar and got me beer. A nice cold beer because the day was just becoming a huge fail. A nice cold beer because I just needed to accomplish something for the day and if drinking was it, I could make do.

So my exercise for the day - I rode my bike to the overhead bridge, lugged it over my shoulder and crossed the bridge, then rode it back home. A grand total of 2 kilometres logged. Woo hoo. Guess who woke up the next morning an aching right arm and sore thigh muscles? I really don't know if I should laugh or cry that I've become this pathetic.

First attempt at getting back into things - FAIL

I'm off to Langkawi on Friday. Hopefully I can get a bike ride in, some climbing in and kayaking....or it could rain all weekend and I'll come back feeling unaccomplished again.

Random Points on my Life

1) I have done no sport for a long long time. I am also restless as hell. Sometime in the next couple of years I hope I stop being sick. Sighhhhh....

2) Although I did go for a birthday walk with R on the Woodcutter's Trail yesterday. We did also get lost - well, that or the instructions I downloaded were kind of crap. Not that I could get any better instructions. The problem with Singapore is that there just aren't enough people doing treks.

3) I am now 30. Well, at least I was 30 since yesterday. I don't really feel 30 and I'm not really sure how someone who's 30 is supposed to feel. More mature maybe? I hardly feel that though.

4) I have a 40k bike race in 9 days and have not touched my bike in a long long time. Plus point 1) also states I've not been doing any sport, so basically, I'm going to die a sad, miserable death. Great.

5) Off to Hong Kong today. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a hike whilst there.

Humpy Grumpy Camel

I'm in a mood today. A rather grouchy one. Maybe it's a lack of sleep. Maybe it's just that I find boys have double standards and won't ever admit it (plus they're every bit as self-absorbed as they think we are!). Maybe it's because I'm aching from swim training. Maybe it's just that I woke up on the wrong side of bed. Maybe it's all of the above. I really just want to go to a corner and cry like a baby. Aaaaaargh! This sucks ass.

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