Game On!

...well....ish. I've been lazy. There. No excuses for not doing a lot of things I should be doing. Instead I'm just whinging about how freaked out I am about the Sprint Triathlon next month. Boo f-ing hoo, right?

Anyhoooo I went for swim training yesterday. I don't think I was swimming particularly fast or far, or even putting in all that much effort to begin with. But my arms ache today. The good 'I-had-a-workout' ache though so I'm not complaining. And they're not aching enough to get in the way of my drum class today, so all is well. Thing is though, I realise I am just so much better at the kick drills at training than I am at the pull drills. Somehow when I put the kicks and pulls altogether I become kind of blah. All the same I'm hoping all this gets worked out before my 5-participant swim race next month! Hope I can hold on to my second place title! Somehow I wish I was crap now, just so I wouldn't have any expectations (my own!) to meet! I will be so bummed if I finish last this time!

Jo will be happy to note that I'm probably going to try putting in a solid 2 hours of windsurfing this week. I'm back to rentals since I've chucked my super crappy sail. Actually rather enjoying using rentals, minus the size and weight of the damn rental boards, because it gives me some focus. I remember telling myself long time ago that I'd never become one of those guys who went down to the club to drink and not go out at all...needless to say, I became one of those guys. Then of course I stopped windsurfing altogether. Now my (the new me) aim is to do a couple of Ks on the bike and then haul the rentals off for 2 hours. Even if there's no wind, the arm workout is probably better than lifting up pint after pint of beer (in my case JD Cokes). And I'll alternate this weekly with rockclimbing! I know this now because I tried to do the 2 in a weekend and almost died!

What I've done:

Last Thursday: 3k run on treadmill and a bunch of sit-ups/crunches

Sunday:
300m swim and 2k run
1.5hr rockclimbing

Tuesday:
1hr Swim training (Total: 1.8k covered)

Road to Recovery

Well, I didn't complete my challenge because I fell ill. Of course that WOULD happen the moment I sign up for a challenge (as well as my first Sprint triathlon! Gaaaah!). Nonetheless, after 2 weeks of feeling crappy and then a week of being lazy I'm back on the saddle again. Albeit a bit slower and carrying a bit more weight.

What I've done:
Last Monday: 1hr Personal Training

Last Thursday: Swim training

Saturday: 20k easy bike ride + 1.5hr windsurfing

Sunday: 1hr rock climbing

Tuesday: 30 mins spin + 40 sit-ups

My Middle Name is 'Bruise'

This weekend was not spent as fruitfully as I would have liked it to be. Saturday was pretty much a lost cause since I spent almost all of it feeling crazy tired and slightly hungover from playing till too late on Friday. Sunday was my saving grace because I hauled my aching ass and legs (from my PT class on Friday) over to East Coast (by that I mean, I drove down there) and did a short bike ride. All of 14km (ooooh!). Met some of the windsurfing folk, who gave me a hard time for giving up the sport...which I haven't! I just hate my sail. And now I've gotten rid of that, I might just go back to renting equipment...but that's another story.

Now after my crazy night on Friday, I found a nice big bump on my shin. Probably from kicking myself unknowingly or something. I tend to do that after having some vino...I suspect I have some masochistic streak in me! Then I found 4 more shiners this morning after my bike ride. I have no idea how I'm riding the darn bike that I would get 4 weird bruises in completely random places. I don't think I've ever been bruise-free in my life, come to think of it! Firstly I bruise easily and secondly I'm clumsy as hell. It'd actually be amazing if I were ever bruise-free!

What I did:

Friday: 1 hr of leg/core work - torture getting in and out of my chair now!

Sunday: 14k bike ride in I don't know how long, but my legs were jelly after. Weak, I know!

My post-snowboarding endeavours

After my blissful time in Hokkaido snowboarding, I decided that I really needed to get back to doing my non-running sports so last weekend I went rockclimbing and windsurfing the next day. The rockclimbing turned out alright, not many aches and pains after, which led me to foolishly think I was uber fit. I have come to the conclusion that it was only because I was sharing my lesson with a good friend, so I climbed for half the time, hence hot and sweaty, but without the aching muscles.

How did I find out? I went windsurfing on Sunday and it was brutal. In essence, I sucked. BIG TIME. I guess it part it was just complete lack of practice. All the bad habits I managed to erase are all back. Which means I'm hardly sailing and I'm just dropping my sail, uphauling it, dropping it, uphauling it....you get the picture. It was very very depressing. All the muscle aches and nothing to show for it. I barely sailed yesterday. Instead half the time was spent hauling my board back to shore to rest because it was so dang tiring! Round 2 next week. Fingers crossed I'll do some sailing!

What I did:
Friday: Ran 3.5k
Saturday: Rockclimbing 2hr (or rather 1hr)
Sunday: Windsurfing

Full Steam Ahead

So it's been a relatively more fruitful start to the year compared to the lazy way I ended last year. R and I are taking part in an adventure race on 24 Jan and I'm starting to get a wee bit freaked. I've done a couple of bike rides, but on the road and nothing close to mountain biking; I've climbed once; done 2 very very pathetically short runs in the past few weeks...and I don't feel prepared at all.

I'm still aching from windsurfing on Sunday. Yes, it's 3 days later and my back and arms STILL ache. Then again, I did spend 10 minutes shooting out from the bay and another hour 20 minutes trying to get back. And failing. In summary I spent a lot of time freaking out at sea, having a long conversation with myself and hoping in desperation someone would pick me up, before the rescue boat spotted me trying to swim back (and Tim, who was manning the boat, commented that I was too far to swim back anyway). After a year's sabbatical from windsurfing, my foray back was just...well...a very trying experience.

I went back for spin classes yesterday as well. As you can see, I'm on a whole 'let's do things I haven't done in ages' phase. But also, I needed to get more bike training in. After my sad little 1 and a half hours windsurfing, I was made very aware of the fact that I've just become a lot weaker (and lazier!) so I didn't expect to last the whole class. But I did! And it was completely exhausting! Also the sweat monster came out and I was dripping all over the floor.

Good news though, other than the same old crotch ache, my legs seem pretty good. So good that I'm going to do a sad little 3-4k run tonight. I know it's not far, but it'll do.

My Weekend Run

It's always been hard for me to run on the weekends because I always feel this need to do things I can't do on the weekdays. In that sense, running has taken a back seat to windsurfing or rockclimbing come Saturday and Sunday. However, with the onslaught of the North East monsoon in Singapore, I've been too chicken shit to go windsurfing. So over the past few weeks, there've been stories of people bruising ribs, getting hit by masts and I've just decided to be a complete coward and just give the whole monsoon period a miss. I'd like to think I'm being smart, knowing my limitations and all that, but bottom line is, I'm just a wuss.

However, because I have given my beloved board and sail a well-deserved break for the next couple of weeks, I now have time to fit a run into my weekend activities again. The thing is (and you'll see why this is just an excuse to buy more gear) unlike running home and all on the weekdays, I don't have to carry a backpack on the weekend with my work clothes and all...well, in theory I could do that, but it just seems a bit lame. Anyway, since I don't have a backpack, I also can't chuck my bottle of water anywhere. Yes, I know there are people who carry it in their hand, but I've tried that and I really don't find it very comfortable. After debating all this in my head (because I over analyse everything and because I'm also very very paranoid about not being completely hydrated despite me not running looooong distances), I decided to go out and buy me a hydration pack. And you know me, if I buy something new, I have to make an effort to perform up to standard.

So, I'm proud to announce that I'm back! Woo hoo, did me a whole 8k of runnin' in the sweltering heat! Of course, needless to say, all things leg related were screaming in pain throughout the run and I needed to rush into a toilet halfway through because in my focus on being well hydrated I forgot that water gone in had to come out somehow. BUT....I did a long-ish run for the first time in ages and it felt soooo good when I was done!

What I did yesterday
Ran 8k in 54:16 mins

Okay, I Feel REAALLLY Bad

I do, I do. I've been so utterly lazy the past two weeks and I am wrecked with guilt. But apparently not enough for me to do any real exercise. Sigh.

What I did over the weekend:
Saturday: Windsurfed for 2 hours (had a backache for 2 days as a result)
Sunday: Rockclimbed for 1 hour

Found out on Friday that one of my old school/classmates was a victim of the Indian tragedies. My prayers go out to her husband and family at this point in time. Terrorists suck.

Cuts, Scrapes, Bruises and One Wrecked Sail

My poor sail is with the Windsurfing Doctor this week because I managed to make two huge holes in two separate panels. So RM is going to get it all fixed up for me and hopefully I'm good to go next weekend.

I tried using the harness on Saturday and it was well, weird. I get the whole, 'your arms will be less tired, you're using your body weight' argument, but firstly, I kind of like my arms being tired and secondly, being hooked onto the sail just means if I let go of my sail because of whatever reason, the darn thing pulls me along with it and I wind up landing on my sail, looking completely stupid and putting rips and tears into it.

But being me, I don't like knowing that I suck at anything (which is probably why at some point of time, I'll probably be heading back to complete my dive course). So I'm sure I'll be back next Saturday, harness and all, putting new holes in my sail and more. L's going to look at my rig next week and I might be on my way to buying a new sail! I hope to God it's a lot lighter than my current sail!

What I did over the weekend:
Saturday: Windsurfed for 1.5 hours

A Weekend of Wind...NOT

This weekend I decided to get back windsurfing. I've actually managed to morph into the kind of windsurfer (if I can even qualify for such a term) I used to hate. I go all the way to the club nowadays to sit around drinking and barely touching my precious board and sail.

I made a change this weekend. I went down to the club on Saturday and went out for about a half hour or so...and realised because I have been so out of touch with windsurfing, I couldn't remember half of what used to come somewhat naturally to me. The sail felt heavy, my toes hurt from gripping the board and when I woke up on Sunday, everything thing waist up that could ache, ached.

But being super motivated meant I dragged my ass down to the club on Sunday and went out and died. I spent five minutes shooting out and the rest of the time struggling to get back to the bay I set off from. The current was too strong, the wind too light and wee old me was not a happy bunny.

Needless to say, the aches from the weekend are more painful today. Yet in a sick way, I rather like having them. Makes me feel like I'm doing something at least.

What I did this weekend:
Saturday: 1/2 hour of windsurfing
Sunday: 1/2 hour of windsurfing

And yes, I do recognise how pathetic it is that I'm sore all over from a mere 1 hour of windsurfing this entire weekend.

Last note:
I watched Tropic Thunder on Sunday night and it kicks ass! One of the funniest films this year!

The Round Up to a Bad Week

I've become whiny lately. I'm tired of hearing myself talk nowadays and I feel sorry for all my friends who have to listen to me go on and on and on about the same things.

I did a short run on Friday, I had planned to do the same distance as Tuesday, but I couldn't go the distance. Ever since the Run for Hope, I realise I get tired after 10 steps and the rest of the run is just painful and miserable...and so the whining goes on...So anyway, Friday's run wasn't a whole bunch of fun, I think I got about 3.7k and I walked the rest of the way home. Had my dinner and went out for drinks till 4am with a bunch of mad Irish people.

Saturday afternoon needless to say was spent in a daze watching 'Twister' on the telly and feeling sorry for myself. Did I learn my lesson? Not so much. I headed off for windsurfing mid-afternoon and followed that off with a lot of Jacks and Cokes. Then I went off for a girlie night at my girl friend's apartment and finished off the night happily helping myself to a ton of wine. Was I the guest from hell? Let's see...
1. Arrive at the party 4 hours after it started? Check
2. Stumble into house half drunk? Check
3. Come in empty handed, bearing no gifts for the host? Check
4. Ask to borrow the shower because it's 11.30pm and I'm still in my windsurfing clothes? Check
5. Whine to anyone who'd listen and bore the bunch of them at the same time? Check
6. Proceed to get even more drunk? Check
7. Stick around and refuse to leave even though everyone has left? Check
8. Eventually left because the host calls a cab and kicks me out? Check

Here's a warning to all of you out there to not invite me over to your houses because even I wouldn't invite myself to my house party.

So what happens Sunday then? Let's just say 'vomit' was a large part of the day. Or well, the thought of it at least. I must say I was rather proud of the fact that I managed to drag myself all the way to the windsurfing despite feeling like complete crap. I was supposed to go for my diving pool session in the morning, but between feeling sick and tired, I missed it. Which means I've to go for it on Tuesday evening and hope and pray I learn everything in a matter of 4 hours. Otherwise, I'm going to have to postpone my open waters.

All in all, I really need to get out of this rut I've gotten myself into. I hate that I haven't made church 2 weeks in a row because I'm getting up at stupid times of the day; I hate that I'm just no longer that much fun to hang out with because I'm just mad and unhappy a lot; I hate that I'm so stressed up that no matter what time I go to bed, I'll wake up at 3am pissed off; I hate that my weekends feel shorter now and I'm not eating properly because I'm just spending most of the day hungover; and most of all, I hate that I've gone on about wanting to run during the weekends, but I don't bother to do any of that at all...

Ah well, hopefully the next couple of days will bring a solution and an end to my wrecked head!

What I've done over the past couple of days:
Friday: Ran 3.7k in 25:17 minutes
Saturday: Windsurfed for a half hour
Sunday: Windsurfed for about an hour and 15 minutes

Here's something that's so classic - because my weekend was spent in some alcoholic stupor, I happily forgot to collect my race bib and chip for the run I've been pretending to train for. Goes to show how I've managed to throw all priorities out the window lately.

Formula One Weekend

or a weekend of overdoing the booze. Well technically I only overdid the booze on Friday and suffered for it the whole (I'm not exaggerating here) Saturday. This coupled with all the aches and pains from personal training on Friday was not one teeny tiny bit fun. I swore off alcohol on Saturday. I may have a problem, because right on Sunday I had 2 more bourbon cokes. My excuse is it was the first Formula One night race and I was watching it live!...Okay, I confess, I didn't drink any of those bourbon cokes whilst watching the grand prix, they came after. And yes, they were very tasty.

What I did since the last time I made an entry -
Friday: Had a 1 hour session with my trainer doing squats, chin-ups, crunches
Saturday: Died the entire day
Sunday: A lovely hour and a half of windsurfing

Sheer Laziness

I have no idea why I can't seem to do any proper exercise over the weekend. It's almost as if my body instantly goes into shut down mode and to even consider moving is too much of an effort.

After drinks on Thursday (as well as Wednesday)* last week I finally decided to get my ass down running on Friday. And run I did, but it was not fun. Because I was completely dehydrated, I developed a stitch in about 20 seconds which needless to say, lasted me all the way home. (I've actually managed to find a site that answered my side stitch questions, and I think the reason I used to get them all the time was because I ran without having drunk enough water!) Nonetheless, a bad 4.5k run, is still a 4.5k run, so to me, it beat sitting around at home staring at the tv.

The weekend, as mentioned before, was one whole lazy string of days. I thought about doing a run on Saturday, but that was all that materialised. A mere thought. In the end I sat by the pool and read a book, then deciding that I was being too darn lazy, I headed off to the driving range in the evening and hit about 135 balls. I need to start taking proper lessons really soon. In my head I used to rock at golf...now I don't even rock in my own head!

Sunday was actually quite a happy day for me. I went windsurfing again and I think (hope I don't jinx this but saying it out loud) I've rediscovered my mojo. Well, that or the wind was just the right number of knots, the water wasn't too choppy, the current wasn't too strong...etc etc. Whatever the reason behind yesterday's session, I had a lot of fun and I think I might start going back a bit more consistantly to the club after taking a rather long hiatus from it. I'm slowly realising how to bear into the wind after a tack, building the hope that one fine day I will finally be able to complete a whole tack without 1) falling into the water, 2) being hit by my sail, 3) dancing around the board trying to regain my balance or 4) all of the above.

What I did on Friday:
Ran with my constant companion, the side stitch, for 4.5k in 32:35 mins

What I did over the weekend:
Hit 135 balls at the range on Saturday
Windsurfed for an hour and a half on Sunday

*Just a side point, I've come to realise how evil drinking is:
1) I'm completely dehydrated from all the alcohol;
2) I'm also hungover, which means I don't do any exercise whatsoever; and
3) I have my greasy food cravings, which means I'll end up eating unhealthy oily rubbish

Post-Rant

I realise I was ranting so much about my ipod Nano that I forgot to go on about my weekend training, or lack thereof. Saturday was spent in a state of hangover. Had my usual wine headache that lasted the whole day. I did try to squeeze in a run in the morning, but after barely running 1k, I really really felt like throwing up. So I had to walk all the way back home.

I went windsurfing Sunday and this time for real. After sitting around on my lazy ass the past few weekends, I decided to get serious about windsurfing and not head down to the club to muck around. This Sunday was pretty good side shore wind, so I had quite a bit of fun out. Of course having been lazy the past 3 weekends, in about 10 minutes, my arms were ready to fall off. But after short rests here and there, I managed to probably surf for about a bit more than an hour overall. And I know that I exercised for real this time because today my arms ache so much I can barely extend them and there is that familiar pain in my lower back.

I have a neck ache as well for a completely unrelated and very dumb reason involving trying to jump on someone, missing and getting whiplash from landing on the floor...No one should be surprised. It's me, I do stupid things and I suffer for the consequences ALL THE TIME!

What I did this weekend:
Ran and nearly puked for 1.4k in 9:59 minutes
Windsurfed after way too long for about 1hr over

Belated Weekend Recap

Over the weekend I took this lovely Irish gal to the little island of Ubin a 10 minute boat ride away from sunny Singapore (well, not so sunny the past week). Ubin has to be one of my favourite islands and not because it's even anything as close to pretty as any of the Thai islands, but simply because it's so close to Singapore yet so very different. It's basically Singapore as it was before all the clearing of kampongs (that's Malay for 'village') to make way for fancy new buildings.

Aoife and I happily cycled halfway across the island to check out the wetland reserve and climbed up a watch tower for Aoife to take photos of the lush green-ess that surrounded us with the sea in the distance before her camera gave up on her. We cycled uphill and downhill...and for the most part we pushed the bike uphill and cycled downhill, but I know for a fact I definitely did more up-slope (it feels ridiculous using 'hill' in any Singapore context) cycling than the previous few times I've been to Ubin. Soooo, my conclusion is, spin classes do help!

Being with she of the Irish heritage, we put all our exercise to waste by indulging in 2 bottles of sparkling red wine (it is as strange a drink as it sounds) which we generously shared with another Irish lass. Stupid idea though, being completely dehydrated as it was from all the cycling and sweating, the sparkling red wine just got to our heads and we ended up even more dehydrated and way too happy.

On Sunday I woke up early and did an hour of stretching. Headed to church and then ended up at the windsurfing club waiting for wind. I managed to take the board out for a too-short spin, but most of the time was spend finishing up the bottle of JD I brought down out of the goodness of my heart. And no I did not finish it all on my own.

All in all, my weekend was spent in an alcoholic blur and I'm kind of glad that it's all over and I'm going to be good again...

So last night I went off to the specialist running store (a shout out to Feder Sports at Pennisula Plaza...these guys rock!) and finally got down to getting a pair of running shoes that suit my feet. **By now people should realise that my missions to do something big begin with the purchase of new gear** I did a short run after work, and this morning I did another short run with my new babies and I love them! Like deep, true love. My last shoes were always a little on the loose side and they slipped around a lot when I ran, now my Asics Landreth 4 (woo hoo!) are so light, so cushiony and fit so well! Of course by running twice in less than 12 hours (I know it isn't that big a deal to loads of runners out there), my feet are now a bit sore, but nothing that my magical new shoes won't heal. But I'll be a bit more sensible and take tomorrow off to go for a swim instead.

What I did over the weekend:
Cycled (and bike pushed) for 2 hours
Streeettttcccchhhhed for 1 hour
Windsurfed for all of 10 whole minutes

What I did yesterday and today:
Last night: Ran 3.5k in 24 minutes
This morning: Ran 3.7k in 27 minutes

Another Lazy Sunday

Once again, Sunday was spent lounging around having my cup of caramel latte and watching the Olympics. I've managed to hurt my foot again* and I'm not sure if it's from windsurfing or my short run outdoors on Saturday, but I'm actually getting tired of having the same problem time and time again. I'm probably going to start wearing trainers at the windsurfing club from now on because I suspect a lot of my foot problems can be attributed to the fact that I'm running around the club with my sail and board in my bare feet.

That aside, I managed to make my 4k run outdoors on Saturday rather smoothly, minus the fact that I met with a bunch of monkeys up one road, so I had to backtrack and take another route (I'm terrified of monkeys). And windsurfing went pretty well that afternoon as well. I think I might have to buy a harness line soon, so I can start using my harness. I've got a huge backache from windsurfing (I seem to be picking up a whole bunch of aches and pains from windsurfing) and I think I either need to buy a new smaller sail or I need to start using my body weight (hence the need to learn to use the harness) to rein in the wind. For now, my toes hurt from gripping the board for my dear life, my heel hurts from what potentially might be another case of plantar fasciitis, my lower back is aching from all the uphauling at windsurfing, and I'm off for my second spin class tonight. Woo hoo, I can hardly wait.

*I have a high arches and I seem to make it a subconscious effort to screw up my feet constantly

The Failed Long Run

I was supposed to do my long run on Sunday. I didn't do it because I was too lazy. And well, I was being a bit of a wuss as well - the thought of running 8k just scared me silly. So my Sunday was just spent sitting around all day watching the Olympics. Didn't go windsurfing, didn't do my 8k run, didn't go down to join the guys for ultimate frisbee....essentially I was a big lazy ass...and yes, now that I've listed all the things I didn't do on Sunday, I actually am feeling ashamed of myself.

Nonetheless, I did wake up early enough on Saturday morning and went for a 3k run and discovered that I'm incapable of running outdoors anymore. I get tired within 2 seconds, a stitch forms after 2 minutes, my legs ache, it's hot...essentially it's incessant whining in my head the entire while. I'm thinking of taking music out the next time. I try not to run with music because I'm always worried about being ploughed down by a car (I'm a control freak, I don't trust Singaporean drivers to be aware of my presence), but I need something to take my mind off my own whining.

Went down windsurfing on Saturday afternoon and I finally know what I've been doing wrong the past few weeks. To cut the long story short, over the past couple of weeks I managed to pick up the bad habit of perching too much on the side of the board such that I was basically sailing lopsided. I've been pretty demoralised lately over windsurfing because I just felt I hit a wall windsurfing-wise. I wasn't getting any better and it just seemed I was getting worse! But Saturday Mr Miyagi (wax on, wax off!) came down to the club and all was well once more. He told me what I was doing wrong, he told me how to get better and when the wind picked up just before the storm, I grabbed my board and sail and I flew! Well, there were other people out at sea who'd beg to differ, but to me at least, that was the fastest I'd ever gone and it was absolutely thrilling!

I've got a spin class tonight, I made sure I paid the extra 2 bucks to confirm my reservation, so now I'm good to go and die a miserable death! This week my running mileage goes up an extra kilometre, so tomorrow I shall push for 6km (which might have felt more achievable had I done the darn 8k run over the weekend, and not chosen to laze). Wish me luck for tonight! I'll probably need loads.

Aches and Pains

This weekend was spent in extremes. Saturday I went a bit mad, woke up early-ish (well, early by my standards after a Friday night at least), and went for a very short run, went off to the driving range to hit a couple of balls and spent the rest of the day windsurfing. I paid dearly on Sunday...which gave me the very easy excuse to sit around all day 'resting'.

My best friend and I were talking about the runner's high that running people always talk about, but which we haven't to date achieved. I realise I don't get any high from running. I just get tired, breathless and very aware of each muscle aching. As much as so many people claim that after running a while, one would reach a zen-like state, I don't think I've ever come even close to that! That at least is my excuse as to why I only ran a mere 2k in about 15 minutes on Saturday morning. It was oh so hot and about 3 minutes into the run, I sensed a stitch forming. I'm actually curious as to why I get stitches when I'm running outside and not when I'm running on the treadmill? I guess I have to build up the milege run outdoors slowly and steadily. I'm actually getting worried that I'm getting too used to running in a controlled environment and that my body can't get used to the heat outside.

Windsurfing was a bit disappointing this weekend. The wind was my perfect kind of wind ie not too light that I couldn't move and not too strong that I'd get thrown over. The problem was there was a race going on and I was super paranoid about crashing into the racers (?) so when I was miles away from them, I'd be desperately trying to turn away. I'm not the biggest fan of the onshore wind as well. Because one always sails perpendicular to the wind, I constantly find myself going left and right of the shore and having a nightmare of a time trying to get back to shore. Oh well, maybe it'd be better next weekend. I'd hate to think that I'm regressing windsurfing-wise.