Fish Burps and other Weird Running Things I've Discovered

1. I’m glad that I’m only doing the halfie and not a full marathon because I’ve pretty much run out of detours to make to get home. Also, I realise my ‘ultimate running playlist’ doesn’t last for all that long. Plus, around the 16k mark is when my bag’s jostling against my neck starts becoming unbearable.

2. Having a filling sushi meal before a long run gives you fishy burps and it lasts the entire run. And it isn’t pleasant. The thing is I actually know all this because I’ve stupidly done it before, but apparently I’m not smart enough to learn from my mistakes.

3. I sing when I run. Well mostly I mouth out words of songs, but if ever I’m feeling out of it and there’s no one around I sometimes belt out the chorus of a song. Obviously I run out of breath really quickly and then regret doing that. I also regret it when sometimes I don’t do a good enough check and realise there are actually people near me. There actually is a good reason why I sing/mouth words whilst running: I find it helps me run through a stitch. I wish there was some scientific way to explain this, but there isn’t. It just works for me. So if someday you’re in a car and you drive by a crazy person running and looking like she’s talking to herself. It is likely to be me trying to get rid of a stitch. Sometimes I do a little jig too but that has nothing to do with side stitches and more to do with me being a little too into my music.

4. My brain stops working when I run. When I was running back last week I spotted someone I thought was an old friend of mine. I yelled his name as I ran past. The guy stopped and looked quizzically at me, which should have been my first clue. Instead of running on, I stopped, looked at the guy, pointed at him and said ‘SR?’ Doh, obviously it wasn’t him and obviously I looked like a complete fool. I refused to take that route when I did my long run this week lest I meet the guy.

5. On top of achy legs, my stomach muscles ache after a long run. I’m not sure why, but today it feels like I did a bunch of crunches yesterday night!

6. Not really running related but I take back what I said about good yoga schools. I realise I meant good yoga teachers. I went back for a yoga class on Monday this week and had a very blah class. The instructor was nice, but it just felt like a whole bunch of stretching. And it was hardly challenging. And there was a lot of sitting around cleansing your mind of this or that. Yawn.


What I did this week:

Monday: 1hr yoga

Yesterday: 16k run in 1hr 57mins (The last time, and only other time, I did a 16k run I did it in 2hr 26mins, so even if this is the slowest a human being could run, I’m not complaining!)

Training Updates

Last Monday: 1hr Personal Training

Last Thursday: 14K run

It was long and painful. I was pretty much over it by about 10k but I pushed through (woohoo!) and made it all the way without stopping to trot...well at least not till the last 1k. Point to note, overhead bridges are the enemy 13k into a run!

Saturday: Woodcutter's Trail/Butterfly Trail in 3.5hrs

It took that long not because the walk was particularly long but there was just so much stopping and waiting around for people. We did this with the local Y and there were a lot of people. While I think there are overseas treks that I might do with the Y, the local ones just have a lot of slow people. I'm not particularly fast, but these guys are sloooow.

And while I think it's great that the Y organises walks like these because it gets people (who might ordinarily be inert) out and moving as well as raising awareness on the presence of this ("natural") side of Singapore, but short of there being another local trail I need directions through, I'd probably be a bit reluctant to join them. Sorry Gracie!

Sunday: Salomon X-Trail Race - See below.

On a side note, since Jo asked - I wasn't actually doing real yoga yet. It was a beginner class to prep your body for yoga (or something like that) and it involved doing a lot of squats. I think when I progress further I'd be learning Ashtanga yoga?

2011 Salomon X-Trail 10k Race Report

Despite signing up for a ton of races this year, this is the first running race I've turned up for in ages and my legs are feeling 'achy' today.

Overall I like the Salomon X-Trail. When I'm mentally prepared to get muddy and gross then sloshing around in mud is actually pretty fun. More fun is running right through mud puddles and getting mud on the nancies who were tip-toeing around the puddles. It's a trail race and you're already half covered in mud, might as well enjoy it!

The morning started off well weather-wise. Clear skies and all that. I was sleepy. Very very sleepy. I think I probably was half asleep at the start line. By the time my legs started working, Rich was already off like a shot while I mucked around at the back trying to get into a rhythm.

As Rich describes it, the trail route basically looked like someone took a pen and just scribbled all over a map.



Although it's not completely obvious, the course isn't on a huge area, but somehow it never really felt boring. Well actually there was a lot of scrambling up and down hills as well as overtaking walkers on narrow trails, so there wasn't much time to get bored. And there was never really much of a bottle-neck situation...yes there were bits where I had to slow to a trot but frankly I was just pleased to have an excuse to rest my tired legs.

When we met up after the run, Rich and I agreed that the Salomon X-Trail is one of the more fun races. Hills, mud and lovely trails...what's not to love about it? And a special shout-out to the volunteers at this race who are one of the best race cheerleaders!

Time: 1:20:24 (86th out of 254 women! woohoo!)

Unlucky 13 and an Eventful Weekend

13 isn't my lucky number it would seem. I've got to 13k on my training schedule but it's been a hard to actually run it. The first time I managed only 10k (and this involved a lot of stopping, wheezing and walking), the second only 4k-5k (?) because my watch/foot-pod bailed on me and I had a bad stomachache (which resulted in more stopping, wheezing and walking) and the third I have no idea how far I ran because (11k-12k maybe?) the same watch/foot-pod was still spoilt despite sending it to get fixed. So no idea if I've done 13k yet but I did feel completely wrecked after my 1hr 41 min run on Friday and there was a lot of walking, hobbling and near-crawling at the end of it. I also felt like throwing up after which I'm not sure was really a great achievement.

Anyway, I just got back from Hong Kong last week and wound up with a massive stomachache for a week. I supposedly had an acidic stomach (whatever that means) so was put on meds for a week, which is my justification for being a bit lazy last week. All I did were the two runs (the 4k-5k and the 11-12k one)!

I felt a bit better over the weekend and went for a 2.5hr trek on Saturday(I always feel a bit stupid using 'trek' in the Singapore context since trails here are hardly challenging!) and then yoga and rock-climbing on Sunday. I was supposed to meet Karrie for a drink somewhere in the weekend but my stomach was still a bit iffy and I didn't want to risk aggravating it.

Incidentally I tried yoga again (see above) and went to a proper yoga studio this time. It was so difficult! And we're talking just the beginner lesson, not even a real yoga class. At first I wanted to laugh because he made us sway to and fro and for some reason seeing everyone do that seemed hilarious to me. But as he made us do squats combined with some complex arms above head moving at your waist thing, I wasn't laughing and was just desperately hoping the class would end. So I sweated it out like a pig and today I ache so bad. But a good ache. They did all the 'close your eyes, cleanse your mind' thing at the end, but that gave me time to just lie down and die a little, so I was cool with it. Bottom line, I'm glad I gave yoga another shot and the yoga at True Fitness is kind of crap.

What I've done (at least what I remember I've done)

3rd Nov: 10k run
Wednesday: Ran 4k-5k
Friday: Ran 11k-12k
Saturday: 2.5hr trek from Rifle Range to Mandai
Sunday: 1hr yoga and 1hr rock-climbing


In Hong Kong-

5th Nov: 4k run and 20 minutes weights
6th Nov: 2hr hike @ Dragon's Back

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

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

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

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

Mega Tri Race Report

Well, technically it's just a race report on the swim leg since I did this as a relay with two other speedy girls. (Go Team Short Fart!)

I thought it was a good race - well organised and all. But really I was in it for all of half an hour and I was pretty much limited to the sea where I couldn't really have a conversation with any volunteer or race organiser, so what do I know!

I did like that it was at Changi Beach and not East Coast Park. I actually am getting tired of everything being at East Coast Park. I get that we're a small country, but it's so darn boring having every other race - triathlon or running - start there.

Anyway, I digress. I had packed all my stuff the night before, so when I woke up at 5.30am, I could hit the snooze button on the alarm and be in half-slumber for a while. I was out the door by 6.15am with my bike strapped onto the car. I figured parking was going to be a pain, so I had the bright plan of parking a ways down and cycling to the race start. Of course once I got there, I had to beg the guys at the bag drop to treat my bike as a bag and let me store it with them. And to their credit, they actually allowed me to do that!

It was one of those drizzly mornings, which meant the sea was getting choppier. As I was there a good hour before my wave, I had to kill a lot of time by wandering around the area. Had my banana, drank some water and then warmed up with 20 minutes to go.

The swim itself went pretty well. My swim coach (Coach Alain) told me to flank the swimmers instead of ending up right smack in the middle and getting a foot in my face, so I did. I think if I hadn't been sick and started training a lot earlier I would have felt better about the race, but as it turns out, it wasn't altogether a bad race. I was comfortable mostly, although panicked a bit half way (I only panicked because I couldn't see anyone in front of me for miles so I thought I was dead dead last). I want to work on the gliding technique Coach Alain taught me because I found that that helped sometimes. And obviously his 'four strokes between breaths' advice flew out the window pretty much 30 seconds into the swim. I kind of expected that.

When I finished off, I had to trudge through the shallow end of the beach and some guy overtook me (I maintain I swam faster still) and clocked in a split second better than me...dammit. I overtook him when he went he was strolling to the relay area with his cup of water (how weak!) and ran past him towards speedy Nat who was doing the bike leg to pass her the timing chip. Then, and only then, did I get my drink. I was pretty pooped by then, so I flaked out on the rest of my team by hopping on my bike, cycling back to the car and then driving home to sleep.



Results: 1km in 23:23mins

Turns out I actually did better than expected. I'd been steadily getting about 29-30 mins or so for my swims at the pool so I would have been satisfied finishing in 25 minutes. I'm not complaining about my time, but dang there are some fishes out there. The fastest swimmer in the relay category did 1k in 17:07 mins! That's insane!

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?

Sick! Again!

Good grief, this is the most times I've been sick in a year. Yet another half-arsed flu.

Oh and yeah, so much for 21 days of habit building. I guess you pretty much guessed when I stopped updating!

Day #7: Gym time at the Venetian Gym

No not the city, the hotel... Did 3K in the gym, cut down from 5K because I got so darn bored. I tried distracting myself, but somehow that didn't quit pan out, so 3K was all I managed, did about 60 crunches, 20 sit-ups and a bunch of other random stuff. I wish there was a system to how I work out at the gym and in my head, there kind of is, but somehow, put down on paper it always looks so darn haphazard!

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 #5: 20 minutes at the gym

10 minutes on the gym bike and well 10 minutes messing about with some half hearted crunches.

Day #4: Run 4k

This actually started off pretty well. I was running with a lilt in my step and going at a pretty decent pace thinking to myself 'now why did I ever think running was all that hard?' Now obviously that barely lasted till 2k before it finally dawned on my thick skull that I was going a tad too fast and I probably couldn't sustain the pace. So I dropped the pace...and then I dropped it some more....but by then I pretty much had a stitch that wasn't going to go away. All in a planned 5k run became a 4k run which I wound up struggling through.

What I did yesterday:
Ran 4k in 27:58 mins

Off to Hong Kong!!!

Day #3: 5 Crunches

Yes you read right. I did a grand total of 5 crunches yesterday. I was really tired and was pretty happy to hop into the shower and go to bed. But in the whole doing something by way of sport for 21 days thing, there you go. 5 crunches!

Day #2: Personal Training - TRX

Who knew TRX could be so tiring?

I need to start getting my gym bag sorted before I wake up in the morning because I inevitably forget something when I pack and dash. Yesterday I forgot my sports bra. Which pretty much meant I had to do personal training in my regular one and then beg the instructor not to have a sweaty session because I'd have nothing to change into! It's amazing how much I ache today despite the non-sweatiness of my workout!

Meanwhile today (Day #3 of my 21 days of doing something) is going to be a bit of a struggle since I'm feeling super sleepy. I'll probably have to fit in some time on the elliptical or do a short swim after my trip to the manicurist!

What I did yesterday:
1hr personal training

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

OSIM? What OSIM?

Yeah, I didn't make it down for the race. I really need to get my mojo back.

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)