working, hard.

we've been working to our max since the start of the month. dearie and i have took up various tuition assignments.. the main bulk of the burden is on dearie, tutoring for 5 out of 7 days a week.

it's 10.30am now, saturday morning. i've revising for my qm exams next sat, and at 1pm, i'll be going out for tuition..good thing we'll be hitting town for a breather after which.. so that's a nice break.

i missed runfanatic training.. i overslept..and laze really held me back to stay home.. which i felt was a wise choice because i got to do interval training with dearie at the stadium..we had peanut butter waffle after which ..and i can settle down before 10am to start revision. if i've gone to training, i will be spending more than 2hours commuting..and that time is somewhat lost.

i'm still trying to make sense with qm by going through the questions..one by one. i must get a good grasp of it.

i've been reflecting on how i am spending my time now, as compared to the past. somehow, priorities have shifted..and i feel i don't have that much a luxury to just sit back, be merry and do whatever pleases me most. because i now have responsibilities i must shoulder..i have dreams to pursue in my career.. and i yearn to better equip myself for the challenges ahead. it can be quite a struggle sometimes, without the luxury of cash reserves..but working hard for it makes me treasure it more. like dearie casually mentioned this morning while we were bitting into our peanut butter waffles, "young people who strike riches in their early 20s may not know how to treasure it..but if one earns his 1st million at 40 through hard work, the guy will really treasure it." he spoke of it in relation to usain bolt, the world fastest man at present, who was commented by many as arrogant.

these days as i surf through blogs..look at display nicks of younger friends..i find so much of myself in them.. at early 20s, all i wanted to do was ironman. my biggest dream was to cross that finishing line after 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run. that was the ultimate dream i pursue everyday. i trained and trained..spent many hours in the pool, on the roads, in the track.. i woke up wee hours at 4am and biked out..some days i even took leave, just to do 4-6hours bike rides when preparing for it. unfortunately (or fortunately), despite having registered for 3 ironmans, i never gone to one, i never did one nor did i finish one.

i find no shame..though i do not bask in any glory for completing one. because somehow, i've passed that phase of my life to pursue such conquests.

i found no glory in it because so what even if i've done numerous ironmans but do not have money in my pocket? so what even if i achieve a good vo2max or stamina ability yet improverish in my relationships with the people around me?

today i am pursuing my post graduate studies because knowledge is power. i am working very hard, because money is also power. i work 5 days a week and tutor 4 days a week. i spend quality time with my dearie.. we spend time resting at home on weekends and cook our own meals on sunday.. i call my mum during weekdays and have dinner with her on saturdays. this is also time well spent, in pursue of other things in life..which to me for now, overcast ironman dreams.

nonetheless, i must admit, a part which i am still working hard to balance is time for training. i am now forgoing training on wed because of tuition. when the o levels are over, i will reschedule wed rf training back..as tuition will be back to 3 days a week, instead of 4. in addition, because of exams every 2-4 months, i am also missing saturday trainings too. it's a lousy feeling to be out of the runfanatics action..but i understand i can't have the best of everything.

we gain some, we lose some. meantime, whatever pockets of time i can find, i will be out training. and most of the time, weekdays are the hardest because tuition finishes late into the night. however, dearie and i always make up on weekends..we'll go for our mr runs..on rainy days we'll hit the gym..and like this morning, we did interval runs.. running helps me find strength and rejuvenates me all the time. i did 6x800m sets and pushing through the 800m was such a pain but the after effect was accomplishing. no fantastic timing to boast about but i'm glad 5 out of 6 timings are within my expectation of sub 4:15. i managed a 3:59 set by keeping pace with an indian uncle.. i have conjured plans for further 800m training for next week, and also a mr run on sunday if the weather holds fine.

oh yes, and another new thing dearie and i are embarking on..healthy meals.. i've stocked up our fridge with fresh food..chicken, veg and pork..we just need to go get our brown rice and some other stuff from mum...and from next week onwards..we'll be cooking lunches at home and packing them to work. why are we doing that? because:

1. it's healthier. i agree with dearie that food outside are..erm..oily, salty and full of msg. i'm sick of eating bread for lunch and dinner. all the food will be steamed, boil or stir fried in olive oil. sweet!

2. it's more economical. it's good thing dearie's isn't a picky eater like me.. we just need some veg, meat and brown rice everyday.

i really hope this holds through..and since dearie and i are in this together..we can try to keep to it as much as possible... i do need to shed some kgs before the photoshoot and our wedding in nov. gulps! hahahaha .. it's different having someone who is going through it together..just like we're both working hard, together. we train together (at different speeds though)..and we stay healthy together. we're part of each other's life..and that's all that matters =)

uh-oh..better hit back to my books..got to finish a few more topics before i get to relax later. will be back!