My first race of the year and (I suspect) the hardest race of the year too! I am now typing with a strained wrist, a sprained toe (I think), an aching body and numerous numerous bruises! R's actually worse off than me because during the team biathlon bit he was nice enough to offer to do the running bit whilst I peddled away on the bike. So I got away relatively easy.
The race started a bit on the late side, which meant a lot of it was done under the bleeding hot sun. Actually I think it was all of it. Which explains my red nose and the sunburnt back of my hands. Two areas I stupidly forgot to put sunscreen on. You'd think it'd be easy enough to remember to apply sunscreen on your nose, when it's right in front of you. But no. I have proven that I'm not that bright.
After not running in...days and days and days, the run at the start just winded me. I don't even know how far I ran, but it felt way too far. And I was trotting most of the time. Again, R was an angel and stuck around and trotted with me...and egging me on to run a little. So...bad start to the race. And it didn't get much better.
When I had done more running than I've done in ages, we jumped on the bikes and thought 'Phew! It's gonna be easier now!'. Obviously I was wrong. In fairness though, it was pretty nice cycling around at first in some army camp and then past some path where there was a reservoir on one end and the sea on the other....all that was picturesque...but I'm skipping ahead of the bit that I was actually good at...the one sad bit. At checkpoint 3 we had to stop to do a wordsearch. Now I'm a big Scramble fan on Facebook and I am proud to say that I found 9 out of 10 words! Give me a FB game and I'm ace at it - anything else, I'll settle for bottom place.
So I was at how picturesque and blue and green everything was. Which it was. And it was nice. There were a bunch of checkpoints after that we just had to cycle by, but the one that cost us was the bit where there was another challenge. We had to deflate our tyres completely. That was it. Of course with our crappy rental bikes, after deflating our tyres, we couldn't pump it back up. I'd try to explain how we eventually did it (we had to ask a lot of people!) but I really don't know bike parts and I'd just end up confusing everyone. Long story short, we were at the checkpoint a long long time.
More cycling and on to the nightmare checkpoint that is Checkpoint 7. Which is a lie. Because Checkpoint 7 is made out of Checkpoint 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D and (the mystery) 7E. That's 6 checkpoints (including Checkpoint 7 itself) and we had to go to Checkpoint 7 three times! Checkpoint 7 (and all the rest of the sub-7 checkpoints) was a biathlon segment. As I mentioned before, R was very nice about it and offered to do the running whilst I biked (or he recognised that I was probably not going to run at all and me biking would be a wee bit faster). I think this was the 'orienteering' part of the race and I really really wanted to use my compass (generously loaned to me from C), but really, we didn't need it. (In fact, we didn't need any of the rope stuff that we lugged along the whole way because we didn't even get to that bit of the race!). So after running from 7A to 7D, we got back to Checkpoint 7 to get our second map for Checkpoint 7E. By this time, R and I are more or less sick of everything linked with Checkpoint 7 but it's not like we had anywhere better to go, so Checkpoin 7E it was.
Kayaking at 7E. We thought we'd get to rest our legs. I thought I'd get to rest my poor aching back. I was lugging a bunch of crap around and 2litres of water and my back was really starting to ache immensely. After dragging a canoe to the water and hopping into it, I tossed my (by now, much hated) backpack to my feet and R told me to put it back on my back on the offchance we capsized. Bah!!!!! So on went the dreaded backpack again. Kayaking was approximately 5k of paddling to nowhere in particular. R thought it was dull. I thought my arms would fall off. Poor R had to do most of the paddling because I was pretty hopeless. I did the best I could, but I suspect my best was pretty darn pathetic. Bringing the kayak back to shore was a real pain in the ass. Well bringing it into sea was already a pain, but after kayaking for ages and having pretty much no feeling left in your arms, bringing it back pretty much sucked. And I got my foot caught in some weeds and fell, hence the sprained toe. And bruised ego. But mainly what broke us was after lugging the kayak back, they made us move it further up a couple more meters. It sounds like nothing. But when you're dead tired and sunburnt and aching, it really is the last thing you want to do.
So after all that, we had to get back to Checkpoint 7 (again!) and R collected his bike. Which, considering how unlucky we were the whole day, had now been completely deflated thanks to a puncture. Of course, the tyre tube didn't work on his bike. And secretly I was hoping that our race would end there and then. But no, we found someone who could swap tyres with us and about a half hour to 45 mins later, we had our asses back on our bikes and were on the way to Checkpoint 8.
And we made it to Checkpoint 8 after the cut-off time. So essentially that was the end of our race. We were sunburnt, miserable and very very tired. The race wasn't so bad in all. And I know I pushed my lazy untrained self harder than I have in a long long time, thanks a great deal to R. Overall, I had a great partner and a bitter-sweet takeaway from the race!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Physical Training
So when I renewed my membership with my gym, I got offered 2 PT classes and 5 Bikram yoga sessions along with the new membership. Today I went for my first one. I was overrating my own abilities by planning a 5k run in the evening after the class. Hah. Riiiiiight....like THAT was going to happen....
Today's class was a toughie. Partly because, as I've mentioned a zillion times, I now have mush in place of muscle and also because I've just gotten used to not pushing myself. The last time I pushed myself was at the rope skills test yesterday which really only lasted probably 30 minutes in full and which, at no point of time, did I ever feel in control. But today's session was kind of good. He made me do a bunch of running around with weights, jumping around with weights etc etc. It was hard. But it felt good too. It's been a while since I've really been pushed. Generally I get tired nowadays or a little breathless and quit (Yes motivation levels on my part have been almost negligible). But I got through the whole 1 hour class - kind of had no choice in the matter - and now am almost definitely going to skip my run tonight. Ah well. Spin tomorrow and an early morning run on Wednesday it is then!
What I did today:
Personal training: 1 hr
Today's class was a toughie. Partly because, as I've mentioned a zillion times, I now have mush in place of muscle and also because I've just gotten used to not pushing myself. The last time I pushed myself was at the rope skills test yesterday which really only lasted probably 30 minutes in full and which, at no point of time, did I ever feel in control. But today's session was kind of good. He made me do a bunch of running around with weights, jumping around with weights etc etc. It was hard. But it felt good too. It's been a while since I've really been pushed. Generally I get tired nowadays or a little breathless and quit (Yes motivation levels on my part have been almost negligible). But I got through the whole 1 hour class - kind of had no choice in the matter - and now am almost definitely going to skip my run tonight. Ah well. Spin tomorrow and an early morning run on Wednesday it is then!
What I did today:
Personal training: 1 hr
Swim Training et al
I went back swim training last Thursday after about a month or so of 'rest' (read laziness) and it was hard work. After ending the year in a crawl last year somehow I've managed to lose the ability to do any kind of rough work. My arms don't work quite as well and they tire really easily. What used to be somewhat okay work ( I won't say easy because sport has never really been 'easy' for me) has become gruelling and rather discouraging. It's as if I were now back at square one, not that I moved very far from it at any point.
In any case with all these other stuff I've been doing, I haven't really been as disciplined as I'd like to be with respect to running. In fact I haven't been disciplined at all. I haven't run since...well I can't remember when and I really need to get at least a short run in tonight.
What I've done:
Thursday: 1hr Swim training
Saturday: 1 hr Pilates
Sunday: Rope Skills test (result of which is two big bruises on my shin, blisters on my hands and a very nice burn on my chest from where I leaned into my abseil device)
In any case with all these other stuff I've been doing, I haven't really been as disciplined as I'd like to be with respect to running. In fact I haven't been disciplined at all. I haven't run since...well I can't remember when and I really need to get at least a short run in tonight.
What I've done:
Thursday: 1hr Swim training
Saturday: 1 hr Pilates
Sunday: Rope Skills test (result of which is two big bruises on my shin, blisters on my hands and a very nice burn on my chest from where I leaned into my abseil device)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Lookback on 2009
22 Feb
Tri-bob Singapore Sprint Series:
Sprint Aquathlon
58:29 mins
15 Mar
Suburban Run
5k Individual
38:36 mins
30 May
Tri Factor Series-Swim:
Women’s 1k Open
28:30 mins
16 Jun
Mizuno Mt Faber 2009:
Women’s 10k Open
1 hr 22 mins
30 Aug
RunNUS
Women’s 10k Open
Cancelled
6 Sep
Yellow Ribbon Prison Run
10k Individual
1 hr 3 mins
13 Sep
Mizuno Wave Run
Women’s Open (10 miles)
2 hr 26 mins
3 Oct
Pink Ribbon
Women’s 5k Competitive Run
30:28 mins
17 Oct
Salomon X-Trail Run 2009
Women’s Open (10k) DNS
17 Oct
PoW Tinny Run 3
Women’s 3.4k DNF
1 Nov
Nike+ Human Race
Women’s Open (10k)
1hr 22mins
1 Nov
Great Eastern Women 10k
Women’s Open 10km
1hr 24mins
8 Nov
New Balance Real Run
Women’s Open 15k DNS
22 Nov
Run for Hope
4k Run DNS
6 Dec
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
Half Marathon DNS
19 Dec
Let’s Take a Walk
50k Walk - Finished approx 45k
Might do a photo recap for the year soon...if I actually get down to downloading pics off my camera!
Tri-bob Singapore Sprint Series:
Sprint Aquathlon
58:29 mins
15 Mar
Suburban Run
5k Individual
38:36 mins
30 May
Tri Factor Series-Swim:
Women’s 1k Open
28:30 mins
16 Jun
Mizuno Mt Faber 2009:
Women’s 10k Open
1 hr 22 mins
30 Aug
RunNUS
Women’s 10k Open
Cancelled
6 Sep
Yellow Ribbon Prison Run
10k Individual
1 hr 3 mins
13 Sep
Mizuno Wave Run
Women’s Open (10 miles)
2 hr 26 mins
3 Oct
Pink Ribbon
Women’s 5k Competitive Run
30:28 mins
17 Oct
Salomon X-Trail Run 2009
Women’s Open (10k) DNS
17 Oct
PoW Tinny Run 3
Women’s 3.4k DNF
1 Nov
Nike+ Human Race
Women’s Open (10k)
1hr 22mins
1 Nov
Great Eastern Women 10k
Women’s Open 10km
1hr 24mins
8 Nov
New Balance Real Run
Women’s Open 15k DNS
22 Nov
Run for Hope
4k Run DNS
6 Dec
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
Half Marathon DNS
19 Dec
Let’s Take a Walk
50k Walk - Finished approx 45k
Might do a photo recap for the year soon...if I actually get down to downloading pics off my camera!
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Updates Updates!
I've been busy as a bee the past couple of weeks...not actually doing anything by way of exercise, but just running around like a headless chicken - meeting up with people from out-of-town, attending end-of-year work events (well, that was just one actually) so on and so forth.
In the midst of all the festivities, I managed to squeeze in a 25K bike ride with R on Sunday after eating waaaay too much and drinking even more over the Christmas period. I'd previously checked out Kit Runners at East Coast (everyone keeps recommending it and I can see why!) and found their bikes well-maintained and for just 20 bucks, I can get a pretty decent bike. I know at some point of time I really should get my act together and go out and buy myself a bike, but I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm going to be that BIG on cycling and a bike is a pretty big investment...bigger than my windsurfing gear which is now collecting dust in storage!
Also, just a quick update on the 50K walk. From the estimated distances put out, it was more 55K than 50K. But whatever the case, we didn't finish it. It was 10.30pm, we had walked close to 45k and I was starting to limp whilst Gina was taking baby steps. Rach, the hero of us 3 (and a living example of why wearing high heels and standing for long hours in them actually builds hardy walking muscles), was the only one still standing and walking normally at the end. I threw in the towel there and then. It's one thing to be tired and walking another 10K...a whole other thing to know that at the speed you're walking (limping/crawling) at, 10k would take another 4 hours if you're lucky....So we all bailed and jumped into a cab home and G and I couldn't walk properly for 2 days after. But my memory for pain, I've since discovered, is really short and I really want to try this again sometime. My dad and R go on about how in theory we all failed because we didn't go the full way, but I'm pretty damn proud of us girls for doing what we did. Let the boys say what they want, they didn't do the walk!
PS: R got me a Garmin Forerunner 405 for Christmas! Here's to super accurate distance tracking in future!
In the midst of all the festivities, I managed to squeeze in a 25K bike ride with R on Sunday after eating waaaay too much and drinking even more over the Christmas period. I'd previously checked out Kit Runners at East Coast (everyone keeps recommending it and I can see why!) and found their bikes well-maintained and for just 20 bucks, I can get a pretty decent bike. I know at some point of time I really should get my act together and go out and buy myself a bike, but I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm going to be that BIG on cycling and a bike is a pretty big investment...bigger than my windsurfing gear which is now collecting dust in storage!
Also, just a quick update on the 50K walk. From the estimated distances put out, it was more 55K than 50K. But whatever the case, we didn't finish it. It was 10.30pm, we had walked close to 45k and I was starting to limp whilst Gina was taking baby steps. Rach, the hero of us 3 (and a living example of why wearing high heels and standing for long hours in them actually builds hardy walking muscles), was the only one still standing and walking normally at the end. I threw in the towel there and then. It's one thing to be tired and walking another 10K...a whole other thing to know that at the speed you're walking (limping/crawling) at, 10k would take another 4 hours if you're lucky....So we all bailed and jumped into a cab home and G and I couldn't walk properly for 2 days after. But my memory for pain, I've since discovered, is really short and I really want to try this again sometime. My dad and R go on about how in theory we all failed because we didn't go the full way, but I'm pretty damn proud of us girls for doing what we did. Let the boys say what they want, they didn't do the walk!
PS: R got me a Garmin Forerunner 405 for Christmas! Here's to super accurate distance tracking in future!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Let's Take a Walk
Pray for us! Gina, Rachel and I are going to walk the big 5-0 tomorrow. I'll let you know if we're all still friends if we haven't killed each other after more than 12 hours together!
http://www.letstakeawalk.sg/
http://www.letstakeawalk.sg/
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
F1 Sports EQ Nature Run 2010 - F1 Sports Equipment
F1 Sports EQ Nature Run 2010 - F1 Sports Equipment
Looks interesting enough...save the earth whilst running...woot!
Looks interesting enough...save the earth whilst running...woot!
Monday, December 7, 2009
I Wussed Out of My Half Marathon
and I don't even feel all that bad. R tried to give me grief, but I wasn't even looking forward to the race so his grief-giving failed! Hah!
I'm really proud of him for finishing the full marathon with zero training for the past couple of weeks and whilst nursing a injured calf. If anything could make me feel a teeny tiny bit bad, it'd be the fact that R ran a distance longer than I was supposed to run injured and completed the whole darn thing. He's a rockstar!
I'm really proud of him for finishing the full marathon with zero training for the past couple of weeks and whilst nursing a injured calf. If anything could make me feel a teeny tiny bit bad, it'd be the fact that R ran a distance longer than I was supposed to run injured and completed the whole darn thing. He's a rockstar!
Friday, December 4, 2009
I'm Tired
I've spent a lot of the past 2 weeks freaking out about the half marathon and as if to subconsciously get it out of my mind I've gone off and substituted tennis for running. Real genius huh? So essentially the half mary's in less than 48 hours time and I am completely unprepared. I have been doing a lot of thinking about training if that amounts to anything, but actually getting my act together and going out and running has not materialised so much. I did, however manage to squeeze in a run yesterday night...and it was torture....and that run wasn't even 21k! It was just half of that and I felt like lying down and dying when I was done.
Lately I just feel unsettled. I'm all over the place and I've no idea why. I think I just need a couple of 'me days'. I know it sounds lame, but all the thinking about running constantly takes a toll on you. Especially since I just spend half the time feeling guilty because my flesh often times trumps my spirit and my flesh is very very weak. I keep making plans and then not following through on them and if my running training is an indication on how things are in my life (and trust me, it's a pretty good indication), it just shows how bleak things are. Things just seem to be happening with me being completely taken unaware and I just don't feel like I have any control over my life anymore!
I think what I really really need is just one day for me. Just to hang out by myself with a good book and cheeky glass of vino and not have any plans to meet anyone or do anything. I'm just mentally and emotionally weary now and having one day to myself to gather all my thoughts and plans seems like a beautiful beautiful idea. I'm planning to do that very very soon. Maybe after this Sunday's half marathon and the wedding I've to go for after.
Lately I just feel unsettled. I'm all over the place and I've no idea why. I think I just need a couple of 'me days'. I know it sounds lame, but all the thinking about running constantly takes a toll on you. Especially since I just spend half the time feeling guilty because my flesh often times trumps my spirit and my flesh is very very weak. I keep making plans and then not following through on them and if my running training is an indication on how things are in my life (and trust me, it's a pretty good indication), it just shows how bleak things are. Things just seem to be happening with me being completely taken unaware and I just don't feel like I have any control over my life anymore!
I think what I really really need is just one day for me. Just to hang out by myself with a good book and cheeky glass of vino and not have any plans to meet anyone or do anything. I'm just mentally and emotionally weary now and having one day to myself to gather all my thoughts and plans seems like a beautiful beautiful idea. I'm planning to do that very very soon. Maybe after this Sunday's half marathon and the wedding I've to go for after.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Hongkie Konks
My trip to Hong Kong went pretty well. The conference was rather interesting and I learnt a bit more about the regulations relating to capital markets (yawn....yes I know). I also rediscovered the Shangri-La. Hah!
I managed to squeeze a run in with Jimbo and Steph on Wednesday evening and it was fun to catch up over exercise. We weren't speedy (considering some old dood lapped us 3 times!) and we didn't run that far, but I enjoyed the run immensely...well, except for our 'warm-up' which consisted of climbing up a gazillion flights of stairs! The weather in Hong Kong's been pretty chilly, which made running oh so comfortable. I think I've been pretty spoilt by good running weather in that I just feel sad and miserable when it's warm out...which is pretty much every other day in Singapore!
Because of the nice cool weather in Hong Kong, I managed to convince the family to go trekking on Dragon's Back. We took so darn long getting to the top that we ended up doing only the short route. But the view was as good as it always has been and I'm so proud of my folks for doing the trek up!
What I've done:
Wednesday: Ran 5.77K in 48:08 minutes
Friday: Trekked 4.94K in 2 hr 08 minutes
I managed to squeeze a run in with Jimbo and Steph on Wednesday evening and it was fun to catch up over exercise. We weren't speedy (considering some old dood lapped us 3 times!) and we didn't run that far, but I enjoyed the run immensely...well, except for our 'warm-up' which consisted of climbing up a gazillion flights of stairs! The weather in Hong Kong's been pretty chilly, which made running oh so comfortable. I think I've been pretty spoilt by good running weather in that I just feel sad and miserable when it's warm out...which is pretty much every other day in Singapore!
Because of the nice cool weather in Hong Kong, I managed to convince the family to go trekking on Dragon's Back. We took so darn long getting to the top that we ended up doing only the short route. But the view was as good as it always has been and I'm so proud of my folks for doing the trek up!
What I've done:
Wednesday: Ran 5.77K in 48:08 minutes
Friday: Trekked 4.94K in 2 hr 08 minutes
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Half Mary Training Weary
I know I'm planning to run more than I'm actually running, but I really am sick of having a half marathon looming up and having to think about when to run and having to feel bad when I don't run! Bah!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
My New Shoes, a 4k Run and a 1k Walk
This is a bit late, but I got new shoes two weeks ago. My trusty Asics Landreths have carried me through numerous races and got me through a 10 miler as well...but the cushioning was starting to wear out and my legs were giving me grief each time I ran. So I now I have a pair of shiny silver Asics. Nimbus this time and I bought Sole insoles because I was just tired of not having any arch support.
I trudged down to Feder Sports again to get Jeremy's take on what sort of shoe I needed this time and was kind of put off when he brought out my very 'bling' pair of Asics. I mean, I'm not a super speedy runner as it is, BUT going out running with these shiny, shiny shoes was just yelling at people to look at how slow I was was! I have to put pictures of my shoes up soon. They're super white - I look like a total non-runner, and shiny silver - space cadet, BUT the cushioning...oh the cushioning. It's like running on air. If I could just get Asics to design a more aesthetically pleasing shoe and make the shoe just a wee bit lighter, this shoe'd be heaven. As it is, running in it has been rather enjoyable....till last night.
My plans to do a 7k run got shot down about 100m into my run last night. Firstly, the weather wasn't great. I know I go on and on about running weather and I sound like a spoilt little child throwing a tantrum, but it really is depressing running when everything around is so darn hot! Secondly, my legs started aching pretty early into the run. I probably should have given them another day's rest (cross train!) instead of running again. Ah well, I guess I'll try to fit a swim in sometime soon and get a run in before the week's done. Anyhow, I did 4 miserable km yesterday and to make myself feel better, rounded that off with a 1k brisk-ish walk.
What I did last night:
"Ran" 4k in 33 mins
Walked 1k in 11 mins
I trudged down to Feder Sports again to get Jeremy's take on what sort of shoe I needed this time and was kind of put off when he brought out my very 'bling' pair of Asics. I mean, I'm not a super speedy runner as it is, BUT going out running with these shiny, shiny shoes was just yelling at people to look at how slow I was was! I have to put pictures of my shoes up soon. They're super white - I look like a total non-runner, and shiny silver - space cadet, BUT the cushioning...oh the cushioning. It's like running on air. If I could just get Asics to design a more aesthetically pleasing shoe and make the shoe just a wee bit lighter, this shoe'd be heaven. As it is, running in it has been rather enjoyable....till last night.
My plans to do a 7k run got shot down about 100m into my run last night. Firstly, the weather wasn't great. I know I go on and on about running weather and I sound like a spoilt little child throwing a tantrum, but it really is depressing running when everything around is so darn hot! Secondly, my legs started aching pretty early into the run. I probably should have given them another day's rest (cross train!) instead of running again. Ah well, I guess I'll try to fit a swim in sometime soon and get a run in before the week's done. Anyhow, I did 4 miserable km yesterday and to make myself feel better, rounded that off with a 1k brisk-ish walk.
What I did last night:
"Ran" 4k in 33 mins
Walked 1k in 11 mins
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
An Easy 13k
Ever since I've bought my compression pants I haven't really used them a great deal. I wore them in Manchester when I did a run there and (if I remember) to sleep after a hard run. The truth is I look like I'm trying too hard when I wear them. And that's a big deal for a gear head like me to admit. However, now that I'm trying to cut down muscle recovery time in between longer runs (and for me that's anything over 10k) I figured I'd wear them under my shorts when I do my longer runs. The problem with that is the laughing. I had a bunch of colleagues laugh and make stupid jokes about my "leg warmers" yesterday. The same colleagues who don't run at all, much less complete a 10k. Well, that's my consolation, but it still sucks being laughed at.
Anyhoo, I'm finally back on the saddle and I got a 13k under my belt yesterday. It's moments like yesterday that I'm so so sure my God exists! R says that God has better things to do than listen to prayers that are lame, but I've always felt that God is a God of big AND little things and that He's capable and wants to hear everything. Long story short, I prayed for good running weather last night (on top of world peace etc etc) and it was the best running weather I've had in a long long time - I think probably since the Yellow Ribbon Run! Nice little drizzle so it wasn't too hot and no thunder or lightning!
I took a different route home this time because I wanted to go a bit longer and the change was good. It was a bit more challenging because of that short little stretch up Fort Canning hill, but overall I had fun. I'm saying that probably because, again, the weather was just great.
The compression pants worked too because today my legs aren't aching too crazily. They're tired, but I guess that's to be expected. My hip, however, is hurting a lot, which means it's time to google how to sort that. I think they should make a special search engine just for hypochondriacs.
What I did last night
Ran 13k in 1 hr 48 minutes
Anyhoo, I'm finally back on the saddle and I got a 13k under my belt yesterday. It's moments like yesterday that I'm so so sure my God exists! R says that God has better things to do than listen to prayers that are lame, but I've always felt that God is a God of big AND little things and that He's capable and wants to hear everything. Long story short, I prayed for good running weather last night (on top of world peace etc etc) and it was the best running weather I've had in a long long time - I think probably since the Yellow Ribbon Run! Nice little drizzle so it wasn't too hot and no thunder or lightning!
I took a different route home this time because I wanted to go a bit longer and the change was good. It was a bit more challenging because of that short little stretch up Fort Canning hill, but overall I had fun. I'm saying that probably because, again, the weather was just great.
The compression pants worked too because today my legs aren't aching too crazily. They're tired, but I guess that's to be expected. My hip, however, is hurting a lot, which means it's time to google how to sort that. I think they should make a special search engine just for hypochondriacs.
What I did last night
Ran 13k in 1 hr 48 minutes
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wasted Weekend
And a very colossal waste it was. I had friends from out of town down in Singapore so I spent Friday to Sunday entertaining. I ate way too much rich food, drank way too much beers and did absolutely zero running. I did, however, plan numerous times to go running only to lame out. The body no longer recovers as quickly after a mad night out. Ah...a clear sign the big 3-0 is on its way!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Interrupted by Lightning
Since my 'race' on Sunday I've been taking things a bit too easy, so last night my aim was to do a steady 12. I ended up doing 7.99k (which is irritating because it isn't a round number) thanks to the sheet lightning. I can do rain, but I ain't gonna mess with Madam Lightning out there. Ducked into a cab and got home before it started pouring. Welcome back, Monsoon Season!
What I did:
Ran 7.99k in 1 hr 1 min
What I did:
Ran 7.99k in 1 hr 1 min
Monday, November 2, 2009
Great Eastern Women 10k Race Report
It's been a whole year since I've done this race! And this year G and I didn't do so well. G has been studying really hard for her bar exam and hasn't had time to train while I still can't get rid of that persistent lingering cough and well I've also been really lazy. Nonetheless I decided at the beginning of the race that it was unlikely I was going to break my PR (much less finish the race in under 1 hour) so I'd take it easy and treat it as another 10k. G's aim was to just complete the run without walking (actually her aim was to run 5k, walk the other and finish in 2 hours...which frankly I was not going to let her do!) so we both ran together at an easy pace. Well, a far too easy pace, I reckon, because we managed to chat the entire 10k and I had energy to run around a lot asking people if they had extra tissue paper for me to blow my dripping nose. Yeah, my nose was acting up yesterday.
All in, I rather enjoyed the GE race. Not because it was a particularly fantastic race per se (although I don't have anything to complain about for a change! big wow!) but because it actually was rather fun catching up with Gina while running (exercise!) at the same time. I'm not saying that I'll give up the joy of catching up with a good mate over a beer, but catching up while running comes pretty close.
Race time: 1:24:45 (a far far cry from my 1:09:47 last year)
R and I went off to the Singapore Open because Rinaldo scored us some course tickets. It actually turned out to be a pretty fun day, despite me getting a bit too much sun. I thought it'd be boring as hell, but it wasn't as slow as I thought it'd be and, minus my tired legs and crazy heat, the combination of beers and golf go very very well. Next year I'm going dressed properly though - definitely wearing clothes with wicking material so I wouldn't be a big sopping mess like I was this year (pretty picture, isn't it?)
What I've done since the last entry but been too lazy to write down:
Monday last week: 6.85k
Wednesday last week: Intervals 4 X 400m
All in, I rather enjoyed the GE race. Not because it was a particularly fantastic race per se (although I don't have anything to complain about for a change! big wow!) but because it actually was rather fun catching up with Gina while running (exercise!) at the same time. I'm not saying that I'll give up the joy of catching up with a good mate over a beer, but catching up while running comes pretty close.
Race time: 1:24:45 (a far far cry from my 1:09:47 last year)
R and I went off to the Singapore Open because Rinaldo scored us some course tickets. It actually turned out to be a pretty fun day, despite me getting a bit too much sun. I thought it'd be boring as hell, but it wasn't as slow as I thought it'd be and, minus my tired legs and crazy heat, the combination of beers and golf go very very well. Next year I'm going dressed properly though - definitely wearing clothes with wicking material so I wouldn't be a big sopping mess like I was this year (pretty picture, isn't it?)
What I've done since the last entry but been too lazy to write down:
Monday last week: 6.85k
Wednesday last week: Intervals 4 X 400m
Monday, October 26, 2009
Nike+ Human Race 10K Race Report
If I had to give an award this year for different races, the Nike race would win the prize of 'Most Gimmicky Race'. From the bit where everyone HAD to run the race wearing the same T-shirt that had your race number (ie, you're Number 359,128 amongst all the million runners in the world - they had a separate race number for each country's individual race which makes the whole 'world number' kind of lame) emblazoned on it to the finisher's medal...not really a medal but a Nike arm band which I'm sure many many people will be wearing in the days to come as a whole 'guess what I got this from the Nike 10K run I completed'...to the really annoying local rock bands they brought up to entertain the crowd (you know that 'look at how how open we are to different kinds of music because we've got the whole ipod thing going').
Maybe it's because I had a crappy run that's why I'm being hard on the Nike run, because other than their completely crap website and lack of email notifications, the actual run itself was pretty well organised. I had some crap time (no idea what the actual time is since the Nike website sucks and I can't access it) because well, I haven't been doing much by way of running for a long while now, plus the tons of unhealthy food I've been shoving down my throat can't have helped. I had a side stitch pretty early on the race and had to stop to walk about 4k in because my chest felt tight, and my legs just felt miserable. R was actually being nice and running with me (poor chap had to take tiny little strides) at the beginning, but I fell so far behind he had to leave me in the dust about midway through.
So I've come to the conclusion that next year I'm going to save me some moolah and not do any Mizuno or Nike runs. The thing is I really don't see why I should pay all this money (these races are pretty pricey) when I don't really need the free goodie bag (which isn't 'free' seeing as you're paying more for these races than any regular race). I know a lot of locals run for the race pack and all the freebies in it, but frankly I'd rather have the money I put into a race go to a good cause then another t-shirt or water-bottle or backpack.
Race Time: 1hr 22 mins (as per my watch which I forgot to turn off till I had my post-race drink - Nike website sucks!!!!)
What I did yesterday:
1hr in the gym working the core
Maybe it's because I had a crappy run that's why I'm being hard on the Nike run, because other than their completely crap website and lack of email notifications, the actual run itself was pretty well organised. I had some crap time (no idea what the actual time is since the Nike website sucks and I can't access it) because well, I haven't been doing much by way of running for a long while now, plus the tons of unhealthy food I've been shoving down my throat can't have helped. I had a side stitch pretty early on the race and had to stop to walk about 4k in because my chest felt tight, and my legs just felt miserable. R was actually being nice and running with me (poor chap had to take tiny little strides) at the beginning, but I fell so far behind he had to leave me in the dust about midway through.
So I've come to the conclusion that next year I'm going to save me some moolah and not do any Mizuno or Nike runs. The thing is I really don't see why I should pay all this money (these races are pretty pricey) when I don't really need the free goodie bag (which isn't 'free' seeing as you're paying more for these races than any regular race). I know a lot of locals run for the race pack and all the freebies in it, but frankly I'd rather have the money I put into a race go to a good cause then another t-shirt or water-bottle or backpack.
Race Time: 1hr 22 mins (as per my watch which I forgot to turn off till I had my post-race drink - Nike website sucks!!!!)
What I did yesterday:
1hr in the gym working the core
Friday, October 23, 2009
A Very Easy 7k
After much lounging around, excuses followed by pangs of guilt, I finally laced up my runners and hauled my KFC-filled body out on the roads. I'm quite happy I did that. Okay, so it wasn't a huge distance, nor was it anything close to speedy. But, it was me finally climbing out of the lazy rut and a run is a run at the end of the day.
Surprisingly, post-run I actually felt (and still feel) pretty good. I suspect that previously I was over-working myself with all the running, muay thai, swimming training, pilates etc. My muscles didn't actually have time to heal and I was getting to a stage where running was becoming more a drag than something I at least looked forward to. Moral of the story, I'm going to be a bit more sensible going forward and do things in a bit more moderation. All things going well, I'll have no more bouts of illness or injuries for a while!
What I did last night:
Ran 7k in 51mins
Surprisingly, post-run I actually felt (and still feel) pretty good. I suspect that previously I was over-working myself with all the running, muay thai, swimming training, pilates etc. My muscles didn't actually have time to heal and I was getting to a stage where running was becoming more a drag than something I at least looked forward to. Moral of the story, I'm going to be a bit more sensible going forward and do things in a bit more moderation. All things going well, I'll have no more bouts of illness or injuries for a while!
What I did last night:
Ran 7k in 51mins
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