Own Time Own Target

went back to the sinseh and sheepishing told him what happened. he signed and went to work, on both my ankles. they felt better when he was done.

i resolved not to run after the trains again, no matter how close i am to catching it, and no matter how long i would be for the next appt.

only to have bothkids fall over my newly compressed ankle during their horseplay, with 1 tripping over my ankle, and the other tripped over herself and using my ankle to break her fall.

oh good grief. is there no end to this misfortune?

Labels: to Sweat

ok, time to panic. a week to SCSM and my ankle is hurting.

went to sinseh at west coast drive for tui-na, and herbal compress.

it is almost like magic, after a 15min of manipulation (at one point, he stepped on the arch of my foot and the bones went CREAK-KRACK, and searing pain for that moment), hot herb ball rolling and herbal compress on the ankle. the ankle doesnt hurt anymore, well, almost.

i happily skipped to the mrt station, and rushed down the escalator when i see the train coming into the station, and slipped and twisted my other ankle... ARGH~!!!!!

Labels: to Sweat

Went for a fast and short 4km run at the canal at 6:10pm

Splits of 8:05min, 7:30, 7:51 and 6:45 for each km.

not bad at all, but i aggreivated my ankle.

stupid stupid stupid.

Labels: to Sweat

ermmm... ankle swollen, doesnt hurt but limited mobility, and is tender when flexing left and right... started compress with ankle strap and ice. praying that it will be ok before SCSM.

need to rethink which pair shoes to run, and how to lace...

Labels: to Sweat

Was drizzling the whole day, cold and wet.

Thankfully it stopped by the time I met up with Cyberkinetic kindly agreed to run with me over part of the marina route, in my first run in the CBD at nite.

we met at 7'ish, but we only started close to 8pm after changing and storing our barang2. He led me on to a run from Raffles MRT/ Marina Bay/ Kallang Basin and back Nice and quiet, with scatters of pp fishing along the bay, park-thor-ing, canoeing, and other runners. The run included a stretch next to the esplanade food places as we came back, trying to look "good" and not suffering in front of the merrymakers, when the smell of pizza hit me and i realised that i was really really hungry.

we did 9.89km in 1:22:00 which is 7.23km/hr, a little slower than my usual runs due to a slight strain on my left ankle which saw me towards the end, the pace was probably way too slow for cyber who is aiming for 4:30~5:00 finishing. marathon finishing at 6:29:50 5:49:51 (based on RW's calculator) at this rate. <ai-yai-yai~ woo-hoo!

by the time i washed up and changed, there was nothing to eat around the raffles place area. in the end i went to Raffles City and had a subway 6" roast beef sandwich. yum* :)

Labels: to Sweat

gosh~* i'm not sure if i'm having anxieties about my 1st full marathon. Had the worst sleep last nite with dreams abt:

- had to retie my shoe laces a thousand times cos the fit didnt feel right, over the arches, the heel, the toes, the ankle.... in the end i gave up and change shoes!
- was caught in huge jam at start point, being jostled with lots of illegal workers who looked like they were trying to escape from police, and we were all overflowing over the roads, traffic junction, drains and i had to climb over a wall to continue
- had to run to a restroom immediately- saw a thief in action, help apprehend him, and to wait to make police report
- went home to change and drink water (huh???)
- was delayed with kids, i think i fed them their lunch...
- left again 2 hours later (!!!)- support team waited for HOURS for me, and by the time i showed up, they were really cheesed off (since i went home and they lost track of me) and refused to support anymore
- at 7pm on the same nite, i was still at 10km mark which incidentally was at a 24 hour kopi tiam and a live football match was being shown on a huge TV screen. E absolutely refused to let me continue. dunno becos he thot it was pointless and stupid to continue (at that late hour) or he wanted to watch the soccer match.
- i had a meltdown, and felt totally disappointed at the way things turned out.

i woke up with a start and a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. as i sat up in bed in the dark, i wondered how did it all come to this? and then i realised the SCSM is not till 13 days away! and all those dreadful things didnt happen!

now all (all?) i've got to do is not let those things happen, cant be that difficult, right?

Labels: to Sweat

okay, still no run, but at least i got on the elliptical machine at 1030pm, after the kids were sent to MIL's, housework done, grocery shopping done, banking done.

was wondering if a 2.5hr on the machine was more/ less or equal to a 2.5hr run.

decided not to be crazy and listen to my body.

start 1030pm, 1:08:00 hr, 7300 strides, 1380 cal. in a routine of 7min normal, 1 min backwards, 1 min race and 1 min walk.

not too shabby, heart rate was around 90+ most of the time, and only spiked to 150 when i raced.

happy.

Labels: to Sweat

Had wanted to do an LSD (Long Slow Distance) of at least 2.5hrs to prep for my marathon today, in fact needed to do so since last weekend, which was the last proper window before i need to taper to recover and conserve energy for D-day.

But a series of comedy of errors in miscommunication, wrong assumptions, mixed schedules and tardiness ensured that i never even had a chance to put on my running shoes, not to mention a long long run.

was despondent. feeling like the whole world was against me, and i could not garner a shred of support from my own family upon whom i depend on, in my quest to complete my first marathon. and that if i did comlpete it, it would have been on my own strength and time stolen from the every demands of my work and home life.

missed opportunities and miscommunication, if it werent so crushing that i wanted to cry, i might have laughed.

Labels: to Despair, to Sweat

I just got home from a session. The pricinpal is drunk and sent back to his hotel room without his karaoke. I am sober but feel the need to get drunk and start challenging for drinks.

We had a prob with closing a us$4mil proj by this week and we all feel down. We alternate between not drinking at all and drinking too much. the diff between a celebration and utter dejection, hopefully it is the pause before the award. I dunno, we gotta wait a week.

in the mean time they sent the onIy girl home. am just glad that I wasn't driving cos I actually experienced double vision and had close 1 eye to see the road signs and give proper instructions to the driver....

now... I just feel thirsty and a need to run away from it all.

Labels: to Despair

Was half asleep listening to the radio on way to work this morning, and the song "Lonely no more" came up.

Usually i love the song and the catchy chorus, but i might have been a little crazy this morning, cos first i started thinking "darn! "Lonely No More"? that is bad english", and then i thot it sounded just like a product with a bad name with bad english, like like like "Smelly No More"!


gosh! and i woke up fully with giggles. only prob is i cant get this stupid version of the song out of my head, help!

Labels: to Laugh

rested on sat. and no chance to run today since nobody to help with the kids. had to do something and went on the elliptical machine at 10:35pm, after hurrying the kids to zzz with E to jagar them.

was the longest session at 5000 strides, 46:24min and 910 kcal <-- i'm sure this is overstated or based on a much much heavier person. it's almost half my daily calarie allowance for goodness' sakes. Did 5 min run- 2 min walk- 1 min backward jog intervals to spice it up. Didnt feel tiring much. good workout, or i was simlpy fresh from my rest on sat.

anyways, tried to paste heavy plaster over the rough spot to prevent blisters, only worked for awhile until it got pushed aside with every stride. Had to stop before the blister threatened again. at this stage, no injury is allowed.

i think i will sleep well tonight :)

Labels: to Sweat

must have overdone things on run 051103 at MR, or the new lacing to pull up the front of shoes to prevent toes hammering the shoe box didnt work well, cos i now have a swollen left ankle. or i simply didnt tie them tight enough at the ankle.

whatever it is, i have a swollen left ankle. had been compensating by twisting it to suit what i thought to be unbalanced new sandles. little did i know i might have aggreivated the ankle. bummer.

had wanted to go for sengkang-seletar run tomorrow morning with gentle and gang. but now cannot liao. bummer.

Sat will be a rest day, and to pay all my sleep debts. see what happens on Sun.

Labels: to Sweat

wow, havent been to MR since like sec sch cross country run, and that was eons ago.

expected to do a 1 loop 10km inside MR with the sgrunners based on earlier forum discussions about 2x10km loops, but ended on a 16km route becos of muddy terrain from rain, and almost died.

it was mostly road run, but thrown in with a nice hilly run and an air-con route in MR. fantastic weather, fresh air, little cars (some but alright) and we saw monkeys and squirrels. :) but oh the pace was fast, i was eating dust all the way at the back. except at the aircon route, when i went ahead first while the majority went for a water/ toilet break, but they caught up with my on the return leg. oh-the-shame! kidding. :D

i managed 13plus km, and it was another 3km back to the carpark, when DO and cyberkinetic asked if i wanted to go straight to the prada shop and wait for the rest to come, and E can go take the car. i was half torn between wanting to go the distance and the lure of PRATA! i'm just a smite ashamed to say that the prata won. (mushroom and cheese crispy prata yum yum)

talked shop with DO and cyberkinetic while waiting for the rest to turn up, and they took turns scarring me about how hellish it would be for me at the full marathon, since i dont have enough mileage under my belt and blah blah. points taken. and i really need to step up this last 2 weeks before the tapering, and i definitely need a cheering party and support squad on D day. calling all volunteers! call or email me!!! phu-lease*

some side show about E missing in action, when it turned out that sotong didnt relay the message that he's left first to join me. waited anxiously at the prata shop, worried that he MIA or got lost. and started the trek back to MR carpark while kept calling E on DO's hp. luckily all's well that ends well, and we all met back at the prata shop again. phew*

tailwind 13.36km, time : 1:50:00, marathon finishing pace = 5:47:43hr

Labels: to Sweat

started at 550pm. late late late. went out a little too fast in the beginning but caught my self before 2km mark. did the ulu pandan canal -clementi loop and then decided against another of these and u-turned at the of ulu pandan canal cos it was getting dark fast, and i felt sluggish and a blister was threathening to grate on my left instep. bummer.

it was getting quiet on my way back, and i was tired. perhaps another lsd after my crazy run on 051029 wasnt wise, and my trying to not walk for the first 5km (a variation from my training routine) wasnt wise either. in fact, it took me a whole kilometer to overtake a guy who was brisk walking in front of me. well he had a head start of 150m to 200m, but still, a whole km in 14min to overtake him is disgraceful. only good thing was he didnt overtake me after that, but he could have gotten off the canal in the middle HA.

good thing was there were still pp running/ walking/ walking their dogs, and all the lights were working at the canal.

9.09km (tailwind) 1:19:00. marathon finishing 6:06:42. oh good grief.

Labels: to Sweat

Crazy early morning run at Sengkang with trifam/ sgrunners.

Caught a lift from gentle at 455am (yes, A.freking.M.), to go to Sengkang, waited for the gang to show up before heading off at 515am. They said OTOT, but encourage the slow ones to start first, behind the leaders who knew the way, and i was the only girl in that pack. they were fast, and i wisely ran at my own pace, but not slow enough, and started with stitches 3+ km into it. well, it was a combi of extreme late nite (fashion show + drinking) i.e. inadequate rest + first time extreme a.m. run + too fast pace (9km/hr) = disaster.

mythos and andy were very kind to run with me at my pace, and gave me a few tips, some i understood and some i didnt:
- andy noticed that i ran with my palm open and advised me to close them a little, i tried that before and the blood stop circulating there and i ended up with numb hands. hmmmm....
- apparantly it is better to run on roads instead of pavement cos pavement is 100% concrete and road only 60%, less impact. ah-so!
- dont walk for the first 21km, cos it will be difficult to build up momentum and morale from there. mythos also employed the strategy of starting fast, then slower then walked. i'm sticking to my run/ walk.

anyways, we finally managed to get back to sengkang, the guys left to join the pack, while i continued by myself at my regular loops.

did 10.61km (tailwind) in 1:30:00. marathon finishing 5:57:55.

wore my camelpak and it helped, and i realised that there were 2 straps for adjusting the size! thank goodness... tried out tropical fruit flavor powergel. it has gotta be the worst tasting fruit flavor ever! even medication tasted better. it was GOOOEY. had to take very small sips/ sucks from the pack and let my saliva melt it away. i can absolutely imagine it as instant energy once it hits the stomach, but the tough part is getting it to get pass the throat...

did my stretches and pushups and stuff, quick shower and napped for 2 hours. no aches! yay!

Labels: to Sweat