the pain of running

I am fighting hard against zzz monster today. Nearly overcomed by it a few times, gulping down mouthful of tea and rubbing medicated oil on my forehead are some of the many ways I’m resorting to.

Real run was held yesterday under the sultry sun at changi. The weather was the toughest part of the 15km run but holding through it gave a great sense of achievement.

I’m finally able to catch up with Isabel. Our timings were almost similar, let’s wait for the final chip time to be released to find out who was faster.

i was in a pretty good shape to do the run; clearing my bowels as planned in the morning, speed trainings with dearie helped tremendously. I managed a time of 1:29 according to my own stop watch. It’s a personal best, as compared to the 1:33 I did for Pacesetters 15km. but honestly, pacesetters’ run was far tougher than the real run.. being able to clock 1:33 to me was an achievement, which I couldn’t have done so if not for dearie who ran beside me. in fact, I felt I put in more effort during the pacesetter’s run than real run, because running beside dearie who is a much faster runner, added pressure to me that I must try to keep up. (actually not keep up, just keep pace. I could never keep up with dearie’s pace =P)

Along the run I kept craning my head out to the other side of the road; where runners u-turn and head off for the return route. I know if dearie was there at the run, he would have been one of those who are in the return route that moment.. and I would definitely call out to him and cheer him on. It was a pretty lonely run that morning, but I’m glad I caught up with Isabel before the 10km mark and we pressed on together till the finishing line.

I shall continue to work on my interval trainings and add on more circuit trainings too, despite the pain of going through them. Indeed, no pain no gain.

I gave the Asics Gel Hyperspeed a miss, although I was telling myself before the start of the run that if I break the 1:30 mark I would reward myself with it. Both dearie and I love this pair of shoes, but after I processed how dearie reasoned if he would get the shoes himself or not, I decided to follow suit and not get it too. I concluded, if I’m fast, no matter what shoes I wear, I’ll still be fast. Moreover, the hyperspeed doesn’t provide me with stability, hence if given a choice, the NB one which I layed my eyes on last week would be a better option.

Next run would be the 35km at macrit. Wish me luck because I’ll have to work at 1pm after that, it’ll be even more tiring than today I reckon. I won’t be able to take leave as I’ll have to rush my budget reports then. =S

Pain. It’s good sometimes to feel pain. Train till it’s painful, because the pain would often makes you stronger.

training high

Pretty satisfied with training progress this week. yesterday’s tempo run was the most trying as I’ve pushed myself pretty hard on wed’s 400m sets and Tuesday I’ve also put in at least 90% effort in the 10km run. My legs were pretty sore yesterday when I headed out to meet dearie at the stadium. Nonetheless, as I visualized dearie there at the stadium, waiting for me to come, and I know he’ll run with me through the sets, that kept my legs going. When I got there, I still tried my best to push at least 80% in my 3 tempo sets. 10mins – 2 mins recovery, 5mins – 1 min recovery and the last set, 10mins – 2 mins recovery again. I managed to finish 4 ½ laps for the 1st set and averaged out the same to complete almost 2 ½ laps in the 2nd set. I only managed 4 laps in the last set but I’m glad overall I did 11laps in the 25mins. I added another 2.4km at recovery pace to close the night’s training, adding to the 3km to get to the stadium, I totaled almost 10km. (average pace is about 13min 35s for 2.4km)

Although I was dead beat when I finally got home, it was really satisfying when I reviewed my log and saw 33km in 3 days consecutively. It’s a small achievement for me. dearie commented that my training method was wrong as I should not be running hard for all 3 days, and I do not deny it’s not the optimal way as well. However, given the time constraint, it ended in this awry way this week. I shouldn’t have pushed on wed but I wanted to add some fun into running on the track. It can get really boring just running loops in the stadium, so the interval 400m really helped me get my mind off just counting 1-25laps..instead I could just concentrate on sets of 400m sprints and recovery..

We both had whey after dinner yesterday and I feel it helps tremendously in recovery. My legs aren’t aching at all and I'm all ready to take on gym training tonight! I would want to clock another 6-7km on the treadmill and elliptical machines but usually these machines take a long time. I only have 1.5hrs so I’ve got to utilize every minute wisely. Why 1.5hrs? because parking is expensive. 50cents for every 0.5hrs so we’re paying $1.50 just to park the car there to do gym! There’s no cheaper alternative as we both like the jurong west gym. Cck gym has limited machines and i don’t think I’ll want to pay $2.50 to go to a sparsely equipped gym.

Dearie will teach me some good methods to train my abs tonight. I can’t wait to get some washboard abs! =P

I’ll give real run a miss for some reasons. 1. RL hasn’t managed to get dearie a slot despite we’ve submitted our names to both RLF and RLN. 2. it’s too inconvenient to get to changi and out from changi to RLF on time to start work at 11am. They’ll be closing the road till 10am..and they are only providing shuttle buses from 10am. I can imagine throngs of people struggling to get onto the bus and the crazy congestion which is most likely to occur. If I’m not working, probably I’ll just waste half a day there.. but I’ve got part time work so that’ll be too rush.

Instead, if I don’t oversleep, I’ll do a 25km run down to RLF. That’ll make up really good mileage for the 35km progressive run next week. probably it’ll be the best gauge to see if I should go for the 35km run in the first place. =)

So much for the training updates. Tomorrow will be mike’s big day. Mike’s my cousin who’s into outdoor adventure. Dearie will be helping mummy with the noon catering (thank you dearie!!). while I’ve got to be at RLN for meeting at 9am. (booo!) I’ll finish RLF at 6pm then rush off to mum’s shop to get ready for the dinner at 730pm. I think I’m in good fitness physique so there’ll be no reason for my relatives to pinch my fats and comment I’ve put on weight again.

I’ll remember to bring the dslr so I can snap photos with dearie and mummy. Last week we brought the dslr but left it in the boot, only realized at the dinner table that we had forgotten about it. If only we had a compact camera!!! (Argh!) I was telling dearie if the camera was small enough to go into my bag then we won’t have forgotten about it. =( sigh. It’s ok, I hope we both save enough to get the Olympus so we would have a camera with us all the time! yay!

Haha I’m still on a training high. All the way for dearie and I! all the way till the ultra in dec! that’s the big race for the year! 70km for dearie, 60km for me? gambatte!

staying strong

City rat is sick. I hope he gets well soon. Please stay strong, things will definitely get better.

I couldn’t push myself to finish the entire 1.5km swim on sat. I gave up after 750m but I ran the 10km anyways. Enjoyed the run, but it was the swim I couldn’t stand.

After the bi, raving up my engine to continue training seems arduous. I need to clock good mileage for the upcoming runs. Have to do it, have to do it! Hope the weather holds though, it’s been raining pretty often these days.

I’ve gone down to get submit my application forms for the course. It’ll take 4 weeks before the university would get back to me. Meantime, I’m crossing my fingers, hoping for the best. I do hope I’ll get into the programme!

We’ve all got to stay strong..and get stronger. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. When the going gets rough, the rough will make us stronger.

journey on

It has been an itch, an urge rather, that’s been nagging for far too long. One I cannot deny its presence, one that I must do something about.

It used to be IM IM IM..all I ever wanted to achieve in my life was to complete the IM. Then one day, I had an accident on the trail and that turned my life around.

It used to be I just want to work and be merry about it. Pay wasn’t important. Wasting my qualification? Who cared. Until one day, reality struck me. Is pay really not that important in this mercenary world? Can I still be merry when I’m paid like an A level student and made to fold flyers all the time?

I woke up and told myself I will waste no more time. I must save and build a future of concrete and bricks. No more “I can live on air” ideology.

CT gave me a push today and told me to grasp onto my life and make something out of it. Rather spending 3 years plodding and come out of it still aimless, why not invest 30k, 2-3 years and come out of it sure about my life and finding direction of what I really want to do.

There are a lot of roads that lead to rome. And different locations require us to take different routes. In my case, I know I must study, just that I’ve been procrastinating for far too long, scrutinized at all the advices i've gathered along. Too many perspectives, too much wisdom, every one simply made so much sense from their own context. None is wrong, all had their wisdom and their advices came from their experience in life. Just that as I gathered more, the more clouded my thoughts become; all of a sudden, I’m really not sure what I want nor could I see where I wanted to head towards.

CT told me to be sure of what I want and go for it. Procrastination doesn’t kill but it brings regret some times. I was really fearful of putting my foot out to the wrong step and end up walking another 2-3years of wasted journey. Nonetheless, if I never stepped out, I would be standing on the same spot for the next 2-3years. The journey out would not be a waste if I knew how to chart my way, looking at the compass, to ensure I reach my destination.

And yes, the journey will begin in Jan 2008. I am looking forward to it, notwithstanding the rants that’ll definitely come along too. Haha. No pain, no gain.

shopping and chocolates

Tuition is really no easy job. The decision to give up on the assignment didn’t come easy but weighing what I had to juggle at present and whether an add-on would jeopardize whatever is in equilibrium right now, I think I made a rational decision.

Mean time, I’ll just stick to RL as it’s still a stable job to hold, though sometimes agonizing when the CD player is down. Yawns!

This working week is slightly shortened by half a day on Friday and I’m taking Saturday off from RL as well just to take a break to get some quality training with dearie. after which i reckon we'll laze on the couch and catch a well-deserved show on dvd.

Sunday I’ll be working full but Monday is an off-day for my company. Monday will be spent with my mum as she has wanted to go shopping for a long while. Spending time with her is always a joy just that the shopping part I don’t really enjoy. I hate the feeling of seeing something I like but yet can’t bear to part with the money to buy it. Most of the time I just try to focus on finding pretty things to fit my mum and not think about myself..because once I get sucked into the vain mood, I’ll start to spend like my mum. Going shopping is like opening a Pandora box and exposing myself to all the possible temptations around. Sometimes my mum would even offer to pay for me, which is the last thing I want to happen. Although I’m financially capable of affording things, it's a choice that I would like to save up the money for rainy days than splurge on merely “wants”. There can never be an end to the things we want, so distinguishing between wants and needs is important.

I’m pretty happy with the progress I’ve been making in training. My body is slowly adjusting to the intensity and I need to gradually hit more targets. Perhaps if I do meet my targets, I might just purchase the new running shoes for myself! =) even pets need reward, lest humans!

Ho ho ho..i’ll still get to do the NIE bi, now that the assignment is off. I’m making sure I don’t come in last..brick training! And more brick training!

I need to find out how to recover faster from training as I find myself wearing out before the weekend approaches. It seems that 1 day of rest is not helping much.

Events coming up

20 oct – nie bi
29 oct – nb real run
4 nov – 35km progressive run (gulps!)
11 nov – trailblazers
2 dec – standchart mara
30 dec – ultramara


ah..u know what makes training hard worth it? sinking my teeth into yummy chocolate of which half is shared with my dearie!

run, liberated

To me, running is a liberating thing to do. It forces me to set time aside to be in touch with myself. It gives me a chance to take a breather from the vexes of daily life and the endorphins eases stress better than a glass of liquor. Liquor drowns, but running liberates.

I feel there’s nothing to flaunt in running. It’s not about how far or how fast you can run, but we should take pride that we belong to the category of humans who understand the beauty of running.

Sometimes running becomes a way to stay in shape and burn off some excess flab but I realize that becomes carnal. When I run because I want to run, I come back from it feeling refreshed in my mind and in my body.

Last Sunday evening, I was off from work late as I had to stay half an hour late. I finished work feeling totally lethargic. I just wanted to sit down, or lie down..or just do nothing. However, dearie reminded me about my plan to do a riverside run that evening, which I was promising to do earlier in the morning. My body was reluctant to move but my mind could use with a run. I got up quickly and changed up, tapping on the inertia my mind gave to my body. We ran from mum’s shop at south bridge road down along Singapore river then to lavender mrt and the looped back via bugis. We got to Singapore river and then ran down to kim seng before returning. It took us exactly 1 hour to complete the loop. As I ran along, I felt much better and the lethargy went away.. it was only close to the end when I felt tiredness in my legs creep back in again.

Like icing to a lovely cake, dearie and I shared a block of ritter sport chocolate and that made the run complete. Happy run topped with a happy food – chocolate. Match made in heaven!

“Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness and self-reliance. Independence is the outstanding characteristic of the runner. He learns the harsh reality of his physical and mental limitations when he runs. He learns that personal commitment, sacrifice and determination are his only means to betterment. Runners only get promoted through self-conquest." Noel Carroll, Irish track trailblazer

Macritchie Trail Relay 4x5km

We’re organizing a Macritchie Trail Relay 4x5km this Saturday, 6 October 2007. Click on poster for more details. It’s a fun run, no registration fee required, no prize, no drinks and no food! J

sudoku-wrecked!

i solved a 5+ rated(most difficult) sudoku puzzle!! it's been a long while since i last did it. i can't remember when i actually did solve one! hahaha ..it was a "shared" effort in some sense. vincent saw my puzzle and scribbled in 3-4 of the numbers..but i did the REST of it on MY OWN! the final part was abit tikam-tikam..but who cares! so long i solve it I'M THE KING! Woohoooo!

p.s: note the paper abit crumpled..you know la..sometimes solving sudoku can get a little..frustrating.