Wednesday, December 22, 2010

It's Been A While

And since then I've been on a build with Habitat for Humanity. Or shall we call it a full day workout? I was aching more than a real workout at the gym, what with hauling around buckets of cement, straightening wires...but all for a good cause, so it's all good!

Despite waking up with my trepezius (I only know this because my personal trainer felt the need to enlighten me as I kept calling them 'wings' which of course is totally wrong) and biceps aching, I hauled my ass out for a short 2.5k run in the evening followed by a bunch of crunches before meeting the two sisters who introduced me to alcohol back in the days of university. Obviously we met for vino and obviously we hung out till 2am despite it being a school day the next day. Somehow I got through Monday without feeling like I needed to die. I even managed to go for personal training! Even if no one is impressed with this, I am pretty much impressed with myself!

Following that I've done a big fat nothing. I've made plans to wake up at 6am every morning to hit the pool but I don't even know why I bother. To date I've succeeded only as far as waking up to turn off the alarm. Still I always believe in living in hope...someday, somehow I will wake up and feel bright and chirpy and head off for an early morning swim!

What I've done:
Sunday: 2.5k run + a bunch of crunches
Monday: 1 hr Personal Training

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Updates

I haven't really done much since last week. Thursday was spent sleepy, but I still felt the need to go out and play with Rich till way too late. It started off sensible (as it always does) with a pantomime - Cinderel-lah - and ended off at my new favourite bar, Sabroso, with more or less 2 bottles of vino between us.

I felt lousy on Friday but because it was my friend Ed's 40th and we felt we should do something for him, we ended up at Ink Bar for the jazz where I took it easy and had only 2 Jim Beam cokes (with a lot of coke). Then I went home to crash. I was in bed by 11pm on a Friday night. That's how tired I was that day.

Soooo, the weekend wasn't a total blow-out because I got enough sleep for it. Of course I ruined it all by meeting Rai for dinner on Sunday and then going for 'one drink'. Obviously I only left when Rai'd finished all his 3 sets and by then I had ingested close to 4 glasses of wine. Lovely.

What I did:

Saturday:

Ran 1.2k, walked 1.2k in the AM (yeah, apparently I hadn't fully recovered from Thursday's madness)

Climbed for 2 hours in the PM

Sunday:
Cycled on the spinner at home for 3 x 15min sets because it was just too boring (and tiring...mainly tiring) to go for any longer

Monday:
Personal Training x 1hr

Tuesday:
Dinner + Drinks with Rich before his flight back to UK

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Back in Singapore

And lazy as hell! Just canceled my Personal Training session today because I was just feeling tired and well....lazy. Tomorrow...tomorrow I shall run. It shall all start again tomorrow.

What I did:

Sunday - 15min run, 45 mins arm and core work
Monday - Swam 20 laps
Tuesday - 2.5k run, 30 lunges and squats and a bunch of core work

And nothing since!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Hong Kong Update

I got to Hong Kong yesterday, well technically the day before since it's 2am on a Sunday. So far I've managed a swim in the bleeding cold...well, cold by Singapore standards. It took me 5 minutes standing waist deep in the pool before I got the nerve to start swimming. Back home, I used to think swimming in the rain in Singapore was pretty hard core, but I've realized now, that's nothing! All the same, I did 10 laps in a 10m pool (I think it was 10m at least) and the did another 5 laps 'fartlek' (ie 5 lengths mad swim with a length easy swim in between). I also felt like dying at the end, but that's pretty normal. Of course I managed to negate all this work-out with a very filling lunch and a dinner with 3 very unhealthy, but yummy hairy crabs. Aiming for a gym session at the hotel tomorrow, but it's almost 3 now and I'm probably going to be uber sleepy in the morning.

What I've done:

Thursday - 1hr personal training which is why my back and arms hurt now

Saturday - (assuming the pool's 10m in length) 10 laps easy, 5 laps 'fartlek'

Monday, November 29, 2010

My Middle Name is 'Bruise'

This weekend was not spent as fruitfully as I would have liked it to be. Saturday was pretty much a lost cause since I spent almost all of it feeling crazy tired and slightly hungover from playing till too late on Friday. Sunday was my saving grace because I hauled my aching ass and legs (from my PT class on Friday) over to East Coast (by that I mean, I drove down there) and did a short bike ride. All of 14km (ooooh!). Met some of the windsurfing folk, who gave me a hard time for giving up the sport...which I haven't! I just hate my sail. And now I've gotten rid of that, I might just go back to renting equipment...but that's another story.

Now after my crazy night on Friday, I found a nice big bump on my shin. Probably from kicking myself unknowingly or something. I tend to do that after having some vino...I suspect I have some masochistic streak in me! Then I found 4 more shiners this morning after my bike ride. I have no idea how I'm riding the darn bike that I would get 4 weird bruises in completely random places. I don't think I've ever been bruise-free in my life, come to think of it! Firstly I bruise easily and secondly I'm clumsy as hell. It'd actually be amazing if I were ever bruise-free!

What I did:

Friday: 1 hr of leg/core work - torture getting in and out of my chair now!

Sunday: 14k bike ride in I don't know how long, but my legs were jelly after. Weak, I know!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Friends Once More

Rain and I kissed and made up last night, and I had one of my most enjoyable runs in a long time. The light drizzle coupled by the coolness (which in Singapore is very, very, very rare!) made everything so comfortable and well...pleasant. I had a bit of a stitch, but the weather was just too good to stop. It was just one of those nights where everything in the run fit from the moment I stepped out of the house till the moment I got back in.

And Jim Croce - you're my man. I tend to run listening to this upbeat playlist of random songs I like, but last night I took a break from that and put on the Jim-man. And he did a good...no great job. Like I said, everything fit last night and I can say (at least, just for last night) I do actually love running!

Rain + Gerry + running = BFFs

What I did
Ran 3K

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Rain Makes Me Fat

Sharon and I had a tennis session all set up yesterday and (story of my life) it starts pissing down - the heavy, I'm-not-going-to-let-up kind of rain. Darn. So we decided to meet for drinks instead. We're just terrible influence on each other. I, however, felt bad enough that I did a 600m swim before. Ooof, having not put in any swimming in the past weeks, my arms were ready to pop out of their sockets after the swim! Then I met Sharon for dinner and vino. Lots of vino! My left deltoid aches today! Poor weak arm!

What I did last night:
Swam 10 x 60m

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

A Date with the Sports Doctor

So early this year at the adventure race I fell and hurt my little toe. After a couple of months of it hurting I went to see the sports doctor about it and on doing an ultrasound on the toe to check that no tendons(?) were torn, established there was nothing wrong it. Still it continued to hurt if I put any weight on it.

Early this month, being the total klutz that I am, when I entered CMPB to get a couple of drinks I tripped over a step and made a very unglamorous entrance. And OBVIOUSLY I would land on the very same toe that has been hurting all this while. So after a couple of weeks, and in the course of them I've squeezed my toe into heels twice (I had to attend fancy dinners! They required heels!), my toe still ached if I moved it back which meant another trip back to the sports doctor. I'm not complaining, the guy's great eye-candy so I'm happy to stare at him all day; but I felt so stupid. It's the last toe, and really in my day-to-day activities, it hardly affects my life, but it's still annoying and I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac - so really, half of me wants to get something sorted and the other half is just going 'this is sooooo lame!'

After looking at the X-ray of my toe and finding out nothing was wrong again, he said the joint might be a bit sore and if it was really troubling me, I could get a cortisone jab. Now I have no problem with taking jabs, but frankly if it's not absolutely compulsory I have one, then I'd rather just lay off the jab. So the plan B is icing the crap out of my toe and going on a week of anti-inflammatories. Hopefully that'll wipe out all the pain on the toe and I can go back to....well, it's not like I stopped my life because of the toe! I guess the upside of all this is I got another look at the doctor, I just wish I didn't come across like a complete klutz!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Another Weekend Another Run

Well, a teeny tiny run. A little 2.5k run. A run up and down a 'hill'...or rather a bunch of slopes. That makes it a 10k run, no?

Ever since my training session last Thursday (and that includes today even), I've been aching madly. Deciding to do the run on that 'hilly' (I'm going to keep using 'hilly' because it makes me sound hard-core) road was probably not the brightest idea since I haven't run in ages and since I was already aching. Obviously Sunday wasn't so great for me. Oh hang on, I forgot to add that after my run, I went off to meet Merle and Sam in the evening for drinks and Rai for further drinks at stupid-o-clock. Very very stupid. I actually managed to get a headache mid-way through drinks with Rai and I woke up the next day aching even more than ever. Way to rest up those muscles.

My dad decided he wanted to do a walk on Sunday, so that meant dragging my poor achy legs to Botanic Gardens with both my dad and mum doing a fast-paced walk for a good 1/2 hour. My butt ached after. Well to be specific my right butt cheek ached after. I'm not sure why but I'm putting it down to just pure unfitness.

Today it was back to the gym with my sadist of a trainer again. I said my arms ached, so we did boxing. Make sense to you? Sure didn't to me. I essentially spent an hour whining away to him. I also convinced him to get me on core work. And of course I proceeded to regret that since my core is the only part not aching. I guess....achy abs tomorrow then! Gah....can't feel my arms now!

What I've done:

Saturday - 2.5k at grandma speed
Sunday - 1/2 hour walk

Today - Personal Training: 1/2 hour boxing, 1/2 hour core work

Tired!!!!!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Yowza!

After taking all the time off the past weeks and doing nothing very much but put my liver to the test, my trainer finally bugged me enough for me to show up for training yesterday. He said it'd be an easy session. He lied. Did a whole bunch of inner thigh/outer thigh, shoulder blades, back, arm work etc etc etc. Guess who's aching today. Well, aching and sleepy...namely because I played till 4am last night. And I wonder why I fall sick so easily! Must be ALL that sleep and rest I'm getting!

Hopefully, this training session kicks me back to a more normal human sleep cycle, or at least one where I get a nice 7 hours of sleep. I was supposed to go for the Choo Choo Trek tomorrow, but it got canceled, so I may at least be able to sleep in! Maybe I'll be able to fit in a bike ride/rock climbing/swimming/golf over the weekend! Although it seems highly likely I may just wind up doing nothing in the end.

What I did yesterday:
1 hr personal training

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sleepy but Happy

Because I'm still not fully well, my solution has been to hang out with friends till late lately. It's been really good fun in a whole chill-out, no-fuss way. Minus the complete lack of sleep because we're yabbering till early morn, I actually love the camaraderie, the vino and the mad conversations. To all my friends out there I love, here's sending good thoughts your ways! I'm really glad I've got you all!

Yes and all these emotional flighty updates are purely because I haven't done much training....hang on...I actually do have something more meaty to put in here...

So I met Sharon at a bar. As one does when they want to make new friends - they go to a bar and pick up random strangers (kidding!). Anyway, Sharon and I realised we were super alike and somehow became really good friends...at least I take her as my really good friend, she may not....Last week Sharon and I decided to be good and do some sport so I had my first game of tennis in ages! And we went for a walk over the weekend. It was a load of laughs...and chatter. This weekend, I join the British Club for their Choo Choo Trek. I shall see if I can get some pictures of that trek!

What I did last week:
Wednesday - Tennis (1 hour)
Saturday
- Walked (Jln Kampong Chantek - Bkt Timah Nature Reserve - Rifle Range Road: 2 hours)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Crosswords, Vino, an Old Friend and the Arts

**Warning!!! slightly emo post!!**

Since I've been unable to do anything too strenuous lately and since I've had my heartbreak a couple of months ago, I've been trying to fill my time with things I've always wanted to do but didn't because I had no one to go with me or because I was too busy training (or at least thinking about training, not doing it and then feeling guilty about it). So in a whole bid to seek this independence that I seem to have lost over the years, I went off and got myself a ticket for Jeremy Monteiro (one of Singapore's more famous local Jazz talents) to see his solo piano recital. Right after I did that though, a friend, Ed, and his wife decided to join me - okay, so I didn't go solo in the end, but the thought was there! The three of us also got tickets to watch Natalie Cole at the Sun Festival and did that just last Sunday.

I have to say, I've really been enjoying these recitals/concerts . Previously I would kind of wait around for my man (now, ex) before I could do anything...not because I really needed to have him around, but just as a whole 'if I enjoyed the moment, I would really want to share that moment with the person I loved'. So I would always wait for my man to be free and he wasn't free a lot for me somehow, which meant I didn't end up doing a lot of things I wanted to. I guess it is a blessing in disguise that I now have the opportunity to do all these things now. I've been reading a lot, going for blue-sky holidays and attending more jazz concerts - things I could never seem to make time for. Also tonight I'm off to watch Jose Carreras in concert - I'm not sure I'll fully enjoy it, but who knows? Mainly I'm once more starting to get out there and be curious about the world again.

Along with this life change, an old friend has also reappeared in my life. A very good friend and a friend who I've shared certain important moments in my life with. It's been weird because in the last week I've seen more of him than I have in the last 2 years. For 2 years, we've had, at most, a handful of half-hearted calls; if we met up, it was because we ran into each other and nothing more - then all of a sudden he rings up one day, we meet up and magically we're the best of friends again. And it is nice. And I realise I do actually miss our little chats and that bizarre chemistry we share as friends. We've met up about a good 4 times last week - as if to cram in 2 years worth of yapping - and we'll play crosswords over a glass/bottle of vino till late into the night. Did I mention I've become a huge crossword buff as well lately? Really really love doing them! So, a good friend, some vino and crosswords - what more could one ask for?

Side note - I've not been doing much by way of exercise. I did 10 lunges on each side on Sunday and my hamstrings were aching the next day (I'm totally in fighting shape). Also did a 3k walk with my folks and a bunch of crunches. I think I need to watch an episode of Tomb Raider for inspiration again!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Story of My Life

On Saturday I made big plans to go for a walk. Mind you, I've been sick for what feels like ages now, so I wanted to get out and do something. I even asked my colleague along since I figured I'd do the good Singaporean thing and introduce the Englishman to Singapore and to take him on the Tree-Top Walk.

I'm all excited, packed my backpack, picked Al up, drove down to MacRitchie Reservoir and start our hike. About 45 minutes into the walk, lightning flashes, thunder claps and it starts pissing down. Not the 'passing rain cloud' kind of rain, but the I'm-here-for-the-next-2-hours-rain. It doesn't rain for a week, but obviously when I decide to go on a walk and I'm stuck in the middle of a rainforest the sky takes it on itself to just burst open. So we took shelter for a while before deciding it probably wasn't going to let up anytime soon and continued on our merry way before we hit the carpark at the Singapore Island Country Club where I proceeded to beg one of the guards to help us call a cab to send us back to where I had parked my car. Such is my luck.

What I did
Saturday: Walked 45mins - not very fast or very far
Sunday: Did 2 reps of 50 crunches / 40 arm work and 10 squats and lunges

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Only Real Medal I'm Ever Going to Get

Second for my sea swim that I took part in ages and ages ago, but only just got the medal for!...okay there were only 5 people which is why I got 2nd.







Meanwhile, more evidence of mud!





Big thanks to Rich for being so sweet to come down to share this moment with me and be my designated photographer!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Sick....again

Bah, I am so sick of being sick. Seriously. Been down with bronchitis since last Thursday and all I'm doing is hacking up yellow phlegm (I'm sure no one needed to know that but well...), blowing my nose constantly and just feeling so darn tired. I'm on the 3rd round of antibiotics (the first for the infected toe, the second for this bronchitis thing) and I am so over taking medicine. I finish my last round of antibiotics tomorrow and, fingers crossed, I shall be magically better and I'll be able to go for a nice 1/2 hour or so walk on Saturday. I'm going to be realistic and assume that I'll be in no shape to run or do anything too tiring.

In any case, somewhere in the last week (before I got hit by this darn bronchitis), I think it was Tuesday, I did a 2.5k run. I had to walk off my stitch midway through. Not that that is particularly surprising.

Friday, October 8, 2010

After a Short Hiatus

Yesterday night after going stir crazy from doing nothing very much since the race, I went for a swim in the pool. A nice, easy comfortable 600m. I've an infected toe from the gross mess at the race, so running's been put on hold!

What I did yesterday:
Swam 600m

Incidentally, I went for what has to be the best massage ever the day after the race. My shoulder blades were aching and my neck was stiff, but after this amazing rub-down they were all gone...and remained all gone! Two thumbs up for the guy who gave me my massage at Ashi!

Meanwhile, pics from the race, courtesy of R. Thankeeee!


Gross mud slush at transition as I was 'running' out to bike leg!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Tri-Factor Series: HP Freshmen Triathlon Race Report

I woke up at 4am to some crazy ass storm going on and first thought was 'you gotta be kidding me...after all my training, the race is going to be cancelled?!?!?' Well, it didn't but it sure made for a very muddy race.

So thanks to the storm, everything got pushed about 20 minutes back, which meant, the banana I ate on the cab ride to the race had pretty much digested itself when the race started. Note to self: Eat slightly nearer to race as opposed to 2 hours before!

Essentially, the condition of the race area sucked through no fault of the organisers. The rain had just pissed down and made the entire field just one gross mess. I got to a stage where I just gave up with the flip flops because they just kept getting stuck in the mud and wound up walking around the muddy field barefoot. Not that that was any more pleasant. Mud stuck between toes...yech!

After setting up, and trust me it wasn't easy with all the crap I was stuck in, I bumped into Gina and we both started doing our warm-ups. Not good, crap loads of swells! And after we finished, we realised our wave was going to start later. By the time the wave started we had taken to sitting around somewhere and wasting all the 'warm-up' we'd done before.

The swim leg was...well...crap. I think in all the sea races I've done, I've never been kicked and hit so much. I know I whine about this every time and say that 'this is the most I've been kicked!' each time, but I swear that it does get more and more painful each race I'm doing. I've the bruises to show for it, if anything. So essentially when I got into the sea and started my swim, I got stuck in breast-stroker's hell. Every dang person around me was doing breast-stroke and it was just impossible to make any progress. I was doing too much and not getting anywhere. I decided to slow down, because even before I got to the first turn, I was pretty wrecked. My brain then kicked in and I thought I'd go out of the mass of breast-strokers and swim on the outside bit. Then my brain stopped working and somehow I ended up going the wrong way. Yes and I did that twice. Real bright. Near the end of the leg, I couldn't feel my arms and I was pretty out of it. Baaaaad start to the race, especially since the swim leg is my best leg and if I screwed that up, I pretty much can kiss good-bye to even completing the rest of it.

Transition was just a mess. I tried to run carrying out my bike but almost lost my shoes in the sticky mud and was just short of falling flat on my face. Plus after the gruelling sea swim, thinking I could 'run' whilst hoisting my bike on my shoulder was pretty far-fetched.

Bike leg was okay. I was panting like a dog and I guess my heart rate was all over the place. I tried to pedal as fast as my little legs could go but kept tiring and slowing down. Also to all those asses out there yelling and screaming at me...argh! Ugly ugly sports people, you bunch are! I was supposed to turn right at the 5k loop and you guys were in MY way! Plus it really isn't my fault that they set up the race in THAT way. Gah. Asses.

My run went rather dismally. I blame my mud-caked shoes which felt like I was running with weights on my feet. Well, I guess at least I didn't walk the whole while, but I did stop to trot every 5 minutes or so. I did make a friend whilst strolling and met another chica I'd talked to previously at another race, so the race did get a little more fun. After all that walking, running slowly and talking, I finally mustered up what little energy left to stick myself behind some chick's ass and used her as a pacer. Did some desperate dash (used fast and loose here) in the last 100m and pretty much died!

Overall I thought I had a lousy race yesterday. I was disappointed in my swim most and just the muddiness that was yesterday was just well...gross. I went to collect my medal for my swim race from ages ago. R was super nice and came down to watch the race as well to stand around and be my camera-man during the awards ceremony. Pictures to follow when I get less lazy.

Today though, the provisional results are out and what a difference a day makes! After spending the whole of yesterday feeling lousy, I realise I didn't suck that much! I finished 17th of 55 people - placed 8th for the swim leg, 18th for the bike leg and (a rather embarrassing) 30th for the run leg. So to all my friends who always believed in me, more than I believed in myself (and trust me, I have a pretty big head) - I love you all! Thanks for the encouragement and good thoughts sent my way!

Provisional race results:
Swim leg (200m) - 05:06 mins (vs 08:20 mins at OSIM)
Bike leg (10k) - 25:57 mins (vs 33:18 mins at OSIM)
Run leg (2.4k)- 16:13 mins (vs 15:38 mins at OSIM for 2k)
Overall - 47:16 mins

I kicked my OSIM triathlon self's ass! - Yes I know the sentence just doesn't seem like a very grammatically correct one...

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Rolling Over

Pretty much what I had to do to get out of bed yesterday. My poor stomach muscles...I can't even clear my throat without them acting out in pain. Ah well. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, no? So I'll be waaaay stronger soon!

On another note, I've found a spin class I enjoy in the gym. Had an enjoyable session at spin class yesterday - no one yelled at us, no one sang constantly to the music - and it was so so tough! As usual I was dripping when I got out. There was a class before us and the guy sitting on the bike in front of mine actually managed to accumulate a pool of water under his bike. Needless to say, I did not use THAT bike!

I'm supposed to do a run today, but already I can sense myself getting lazy!

What I did yesterday:
45 minute spin class

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Countdown Begins!

6 more days to the Tri-Factor Triathlon and I still feel rather unprepared. On one hand, I feel like I haven't quite run far enough, swam long enough and biked often enough. But on the other, I have tried biking and running after (which I didn't do at the OSIM triathlon) and I think in that sense, I am more prepared for the burn!

**Rant alert**
I don't understand what it is with people going on about how short the distances are for this triathlon and laughing about how I'm doing a lame triathlon when they're the same people who sit on their asses all day doing nothing. Bah!

What I've done:

Last Tuesday
- 45 minute core yoga class
- Swim training

I still dislike yoga immensely. I dislike the lady with the stupid zen voice and I dislike how it's just such a static sport.

Last Friday
- 45 minute Spin Class

Which I think I will never ever turn up for again. I think there are two kinds of people in the world - one who require people screaming at them to get anything done and the other who needs to be encouraged/persuaded to get something done. I belong to the latter group of people. I don't see why I should go for a class to be screamed at. I'm not a pro-athlete and frankly I need someone to push me a little bit more, not someone to insist that her way is the right way and me wind up with a knee ache the next day.

Saturday
- 1 hr Pilates

Because of knee ache, I just didn't get as much out of it as I would like to have.

Sunday
- 30 minute bike ride + 2.5k run in 17 minutes

I bought myself a trainer because I realise that it's easy to justify not biking when I have the excuse of how it is a real hassle hauling my bike to and fro from East Coast. So no excuses now, if I'm too lazy to drive down to East Coast, I just set my bike up and spin away. Cons: It is soooooo dull and warm biking on a trainer!

Today
- 45 minute TRX session with my personal trainer

I expect my abs won't be too happy tomorrow seeing how I whooped its ass today!

Monday, September 20, 2010

I've Been Lazy

And I haven't updated much. Then I went off and got my phone broken, so I don't actually remember what I've done in the past couple of weeks. Anyhoooo here is the stuff I've done or what I remember of them:

5th Sept: Biked 27k

Whilst on holiday at Ko Lanta - more on that when I find the motivation to upload photos:
10th Sept: Swam and Core Work
11th Sept: Swam and Core Work

Last Thursday: 1hr Swim Training
Saturday: 1hr Pilates

Yesterday (my glory day!):

23k Bike ride in the morning

240m swim followed by 2.5K run - Don't know how long I took with the swim, but run took me 17:17 mins...which is half decent considering I've been lazy.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Crazy Long Walk Repeated

With Shawn this time! Shawn got dragged in because he went on for a good many days how easy it was to walk 50 Km and so he pretty much couldn't get out of doing our walk. Fair play to him, despite virtually taking tiny baby steps the last 10km we did, he still wanted to press on till the end. Gina and I were the ones who decided to call it a day. We figured we didn't really have anything to prove. The distance and time we spent walking was pretty damn good, be it 48 or 55 km! That, and the fact, I'm pretty easily impressed with myself so well...

The walk this time around actually wasn't so bad for Gina and I, surprisingly. I think, having done this stupidly long route before, we went in with very low expectations. And as is always the case, when your expectations are really low, chances are you'll end up being pleasantly surprised! Of the route, Gina and I were dreading the bit through NUS (National University of Singapore) but when we actually got through it we agreed it really wasn't all that bad. The brain is a funny thing that is able to skew your perceptions of things. Other than my sore soles, the major issue on the walk hit me about 30 km in when every moment we stopped walking, be it to stretch or rest, my calves would just seize up and cramp. And it'd take a good 10 minutes of walking before they started half functioning again. That being said though, I think I handled this walk a lot better than the last one. So congratulations my two girls for surviving through this again; well done Gina, we went a little further than the last time!; and a giant pat on the back for Shawn on his virgin ultra walk that he survived, aches, pains and all!

I iced my calves before I slept last night, and tried to ice my feet but they hurt too dang much. So today I'm a bit sore, but my poor poor feet are the ones taking the toll of yesterday's walk.

What I did:
Friday: Swam 600m in 16:47 minutes
Yesterday: Walked 48K in 14 hours 50 minutes

Friday, August 27, 2010

One Step Forward, One Step Back

Pretty much means I have made zero progress running-wise. I went for a 2.5k run again yesterday and I lasted about 1.7k before I had to stop and walk because my side stitches just refused to let up. I did walked about 300m before I got back into a sad painful little run back home. So the run was better than the last one but worse than the first run. I'm not sure whether I should be happy or sad. Mainly I just feel a bit blah. I guess after the first run, I expected to be flying and breezing through my runs, but it seems like I'm just hobbling through them, constantly plagued by stupid side stitches. Nonetheless, the upside is I did last a lot longer, side-stitch and all, than the last run, so in that sense things do look like they're going the right way. As for the first run I'll just treat that as a fluke. If only all runs could be like that run!

Finished off everything with 2 thirty-second planks, 20 crunches, 10 reverse crunches, 10 scissor crunches (or whatever they're called) and 10 sit-ups. Obviously my stomach muscles are aching today, would I dare to expect anything less?

What I did yesterday:
2.5k in 19:54 mins (Average speed: 7:55 min/km)
2 thirty-second planks, 20 crunches, 10 reverse crunches, 10 scissor crunches (or whatever they're called) and 10 sit-ups

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Zero Exercise and A Bunch of Junk Food Later

I'm feeling bad. Very very guilty. Tonight I go for my sad little 2.5K run again and hope that I won't die from it. Tomorrow I go for a 1.2k swim and hope that I won't die from it. And on Saturday, Gina, Rachel, Shawn (who got suckered into this) attempt our 55K walk again...and hope that I won't die from it. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

More Update on My Bowel Movements

Still crapping/leaking oil out my ass. Am really beginning to wish I didn't have the dang white tuna. 5 sashimi slices...that was it...and here I am paying for that 'indulgence'. Hopefully all will be well tomorrow. I have big plans to go for swim training and I'm not sure I really want to whilst I have this embarrassing situation on my hands. So...this serves as a word of warning...avoid white tuna/escolar/butterfish/whatever the hell else it's called with your life! Well unless you feel a great need to experience the joy of oily poops. Consider yourself warned! Let's pray that this is the end of my poop stories for now!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Is there such a thing as over exercise? - My Mad Weekend and A Short Story on Poop

This weekend I went a bit mad. How mad? Well, listen on...I started off Saturday morning rather dehydrated. I'd been out for dinner the night before and we had some wine - also I didn't think to drink loads of water before I slept. So my attempt to do a 2.5k run was pretty much shot down when I had a stitch barely 100m into the run. I pretty much walked the rest of the way. How could I have gone on last week about how great running was only to have it come back and bite me in the ass?

After my rather pathetic run, I headed off for Pilates. This weekend Karrie's off on a course so Theresa took her class. It was mad hard. It's usually mad hard as it is, but I guess I arrived late and didn't have any time to warm up so it was pretty darn rough.

So, still on Saturday activities...after Pilates I went on to Muay Thai and Robert was taking the class. It's almost like everything was meant to be tough that day. Muay Thai completely kicked my ass. Robert went through a whole bunch of speed drills...NOT.FUN. I could barely feel my arms after. When I tried to send a text to a friend on my phone after my hands were shaking. Yup, I did feel kind of pathetic.

Had myself a ramen and sent my bike to the bike shop to get it sorted. I realised how dense I was. I didn't know I had to pump my tyres regularly, so essentially I was cycling on them flat...which meant I had to get both inner tubings changed since I probably wrecked them. I informed them that my gears were sticking and they told me my chain wasn't lubricated...I was all 'er...we have to lubricate it?!?' Well, they lubricated it and cleaned it up for me...it was filthy! And I felt ashamed. Almost like you invited a friend to your house and forgot to clean it up when they arrived. Sigh.....

So that was Saturday. I was completely exhausted when I was done with the day. Although still had time to meet D for dinner and drinks. Next thing I know, it's 2am, I had a bike ride planned for the next day and I was very aware that I was going to regret playing till so late.

Sunday, sure enough, I regretted not sleeping earlier and not hydrating myself properly. I kept pushing our bike ride till later and by the time we actually met up it was almost 11am and it was bleeding hot. We cycled from the hawker centre to the start of Changi Beach and back wherein Gina managed to crash into a lamp post and screwed up her front tyre...which resulted in a grueling ride for her all the way back to the Windsurfing Club before a good samaritan there helped her do a temporary fix on it so she wouldn't die the last 2.5k back to the hawker centre. The great part about working so hard and sweating everything out has to be the guilt-free pigging out you can do after. And believe you me, Gina and I pigged out!

That was my big weekend. I went a bit mad and I did ache kind of crazily after, but well it's been a while since I've ached so much and masochistic as it sounds, I took a sick pleasure in aching that much. Plus I had the best sleep ever on Sunday night so I'm not complaining. What I will complain about though is this lovely welt-rings I have around my thighs I suspect because I'm allergic to the material they stick at the bottom of your bike shorts to prevent them from running up. Very very sexy welts. Sigh.

On a completely random note, today I crapped oil. I thought I had some medical problem and was dying before I thought to google 'sh*tting oil' - yes Google is my best friend and I google every damn thing. It actually makes me feel good when I feel something completely random and you find other souls out there who are going through the same thing. Anyway, long story short after piecing together different information from different sites, the cause for my oil crapping today was....wait for it....white tuna. You'd think they'd warn you this might happen when you order white tuna sashimi. NOT.FUN.AT.ALL.

What I did over the weekend:

Saturday:
2.5k run in 20:29 mins (Avg speed: 8:11 min/km)
50 mins pilates
1 hr Muay Thai

Sunday:
26k bike ride

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Long Swim

After my run on Monday, I was a bit lazy on Tuesday and skipped swim training. I was originally supposed to go for spin classes but once again it was all booked up. (I hate my gym!). So yesterday, because I was feeling guilty for not doing anything on Tuesday, I decided to head to the pool at home and go for a long swim - or at least, long by my standards.

Originally planned to do 20 laps in the pool non-stop, but that plan got changed to 4 sets of 300m instead. I don't really like my new goggles. Water somehow keeps getting in from goodness knows where and it keeps fogging up. Anyway, being ever prepared for this situation, I bought another pair of goggles with this pair, so hopefully those fit better. It's just so dang hard to try on a pair of goggles when you're not in a pool. How would I know how good they are if there's no water around when I'm trying them! Gah...oh well...

Today my legs still ache from my run and there is a very very slight bit of soreness from my swim. Overall though, I think I'm set for another 2.5k run tomorrow! HUGE goals I set for myself!

What I did:
4 x 300m: 33:56mins

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Running and the Aftermath

After days and weeks and months of not running, I finally hit the streets on Monday. Originally I planned to go for spin class, but lately it's been impossible to book the dang class and every time I walk in it's full up....which is a real pain....The silver lining of course is that because I was all psyched up to do something, I felt inspired to hunt down my now dusty runners, my mp3 player and my good running attitude (that was hidden under cobwebs and other crap)...

It was a pleasant surprise to find the first 1km a breeze and very enjoyable. I haven't run in so long that every time I talk about it it winds up sounding like I hate running. The truth is I do dislike a lot of it immensely, but there are good moments and this first km was one of those moments. As always, my stitch set in pretty much after I was basking in the joy that is running and proceeded to get progressively worse as I went along. Still 2.5k down I was tired, sweaty and friends once more with running. Yes, that's all I did. And two days later I'm still aching. Sad, but true.

What I've done:
Saturday: 1hr Pilates
Monday: 2.5k run in 17:34 mins (Avg speed: 7:01 min/km)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Happy Birthday Singapore

Well, a belated one. So this weekend we had Monday off. I did nothing except a pilates class. It's kind of a crappy time for me and frankly I really look forward to the day I look back on all this and think I'm being a drama queen. In the meantime I'm just feeling out of sorts and numb down to my insides. I miss being happy.

What I did:
Last Thursday: Swim training - First time doing interval training...I wanted to die (2.2k)

Last Saturday: Pilates 1 hr

Monday, August 2, 2010

Hello Muay Thai My Old Friend

It's been ages and ages and ages since I've gone for my last MT class. In fact I think the last time I went for MT was when Keith was in town. And Keith was in town in January I think. I also remember getting stomach flu that last time. This Friday that went by wasn't so bad. Well wasn't so bad in that I didn't get stomach flu. But it was still one of those 'This is what it's like to be tortured' sessions. Granted I'm sure I've had harder classes, but with my fitness level close to zero, my general unhealthy lifestyle (I think I actually had a fried chicken wing every day for that week...gross yes) and the fact that I was still aching from my swim training the night before, it still felt pretty rough. BUT despite the voices in my head screaming 'I want to die' almost all the session, it felt pretty good that I was still standing at the end of it all.

Well obviously the next day I ached all over, but I haven't had these aches in ages and it made me feel pretty good about myself. Especially since I went for a whole bunch of drinks after MT. My weekend was just spent lazing. Had myself a girly Saturday where I went for a 1 hour back massage, followed by a manicure and a facial (yeah, I don't usually go for facials...in fact I've only been for at most 2 in my entire life)...Life's been rough these past few days, but the pampering and my ability to do my sport again has helped a lot.

What I've done:
Friday: 1 hour of Muay Thai

Friday, July 30, 2010

Back to Normality

Finally finally finally! After more or less going stark raving mad from all the inactivity, I got back started on swim training. I did my first one in ages last week and my arms were aching so much after! Over the weekend I did a 2k walk...yes yes, pathetic...and got a bike ride in on Sunday...and although it was a rather lame distance, it was better than nothing.

Yesterday I went back for swim training again. This time I did the whole chunk of drills and stuff set out for the day and boy oh boy does my back ache! But there is this amazing sense of satisfaction that I really can't get from doing anything else. The feeling of completing 2k over in swim drills and living to do it one more time. Granted I wasn't the speediest and most of the time I felt like dying, but I wouldn't trade last night's training for a night of drinks. Not that I'm an alcoholic!

I am glad I'm back. It's been a rough couple of weeks/months that went by. On a personal level front there's been so much going on - big decisions to make involving tears, grinding of teeth and a whole lot of moping. That I couldn't even find an outlet for all that pent up frustration was a complete nightmare. Sometimes I realise I'd just drive myself crazy if I didn't do anything....which I pretty much almost did this time around!...all the same, I'm back now! Muay Thai tonight!

What I've done since I've last updated (excluding the biking we did at Langkawi):

Thursday before last: 30 minutes swim training
Last Friday: 600m swim
Saturday: Walked 2k
Sunday: Cycled 10k (possibly less)
Thursday: Swim training (2.25k in all)

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

My First Attempt at Getting Back into Things

Total FAIL. So I still have that nagging little cough that absolutely refuses to disappear. It's not even a real cough, just like this little cough that comes up every couple of hours. Bah.

On Sunday I decided enough was enough. When I was doing stuff, at least if I had a bad day, I'd take a swim or a run (well, rarely now), now at one of the more drama moments in my life I have no outlet to release all this pent-up angst. I've tried talking about things over many many glasses of wine. But frankly, I'm tired of the wine, tired of the talking and all I really want to do is go out and do something!

So Sunday I decided I needed to get a bike ride in. I took my poor neglected bike out and realised my tyres were kind of flat. No problem I thought, there was a bike shop by the main road, so all I had to do was cycle out and get the tyres all pumped up and then I could head to East Coast Park and get a 20k bike ride in. The shop was shut. Well, I wasn't going to throw a tantrum just yet! There were at least 4 bike shops all the way from Second Avenue to Sixth Avenue and that was just a short cab ride away.

However, after getting turned down by 4 cabbies - because I had a bike and they couldn't be arsed to open their boots...and I couldn't be bothered to argue with them about how I knew my bike would fit in because I've popped it in the boot numerous times - I was getting kind of at the end of my patience. Thankfully a very nice and kind taxi stopped and helped me load my bike and we were on our way!

Judging by how I'm the official jinx of this year's World Cup (every single team I've supported has been kicked out), I wasn't too successful with my bid to get my tyres pumped. All the shops were shut. Every.Single.One. Siiiiiiigh.....

What was my solution? I dragged my bike over to my neighbourhood bar and got me beer. A nice cold beer because the day was just becoming a huge fail. A nice cold beer because I just needed to accomplish something for the day and if drinking was it, I could make do.

So my exercise for the day - I rode my bike to the overhead bridge, lugged it over my shoulder and crossed the bridge, then rode it back home. A grand total of 2 kilometres logged. Woo hoo. Guess who woke up the next morning an aching right arm and sore thigh muscles? I really don't know if I should laugh or cry that I've become this pathetic.

First attempt at getting back into things - FAIL

I'm off to Langkawi on Friday. Hopefully I can get a bike ride in, some climbing in and kayaking....or it could rain all weekend and I'll come back feeling unaccomplished again.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Bailed Out

It has officially be ages since I did any exercise and my cough still refuses to go away. What could I be doing wrong?!?! Sigh....

Needless to say I didn't go for my 40k bike race.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Random Points on my Life

1) I have done no sport for a long long time. I am also restless as hell. Sometime in the next couple of years I hope I stop being sick. Sighhhhh....

2) Although I did go for a birthday walk with R on the Woodcutter's Trail yesterday. We did also get lost - well, that or the instructions I downloaded were kind of crap. Not that I could get any better instructions. The problem with Singapore is that there just aren't enough people doing treks.

3) I am now 30. Well, at least I was 30 since yesterday. I don't really feel 30 and I'm not really sure how someone who's 30 is supposed to feel. More mature maybe? I hardly feel that though.

4) I have a 40k bike race in 9 days and have not touched my bike in a long long time. Plus point 1) also states I've not been doing any sport, so basically, I'm going to die a sad, miserable death. Great.

5) Off to Hong Kong today. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a hike whilst there.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Nothing

Yeah, I've been doing nothing. But I've been sick. So there!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Tri-Factor Series: Tri-Swim 500m Race Report

So for some reason before this race I was lazy. Granted I did turn up for both swim training days on Tuesday and Thursday...and I did have a personal training session on Wednesday....okay, I wasn't THAT lazy then....All the same, I can't say I felt all that confident on race day. I had trouble sleeping the whole night because for some reason, my stomach was just in knots.

Race day I woke up sleepy. Helped I couldn't get to bed, so read a book till 2am (yes, I'm not the brightest bulb in the room!). I arrived at Sentosa about 30 minutes before the start, which probably was a bit on the late side. Proceeded to get body-marked and then did a little warm-up in the sea. I realise I don't actually know how to warm-up before a swim race. I go through the motion of swimming ie I do a few lame strokes and then float around trying to figure out how strong the current is. It wasn't very strong, so just as well.

My wave was assembled earlier than stated and I actually think Tri-Factor is pretty well-organised when it comes to their races. That being said, I had about 20 people in my wave and they were a mix of men, women and children. Yes, very weird.

Some dood standing in front of me was wearing a full swim suit - the kind in Olympic swim meets - and I thought 'maaaaan, some people are real hard-core'. There was another old dood who was wearing Ironman (the Triathlon not the comic) compression tights which once again rendered a whole 'show-off' scream in my head. I actually am pretty bitchy when I put my mind to it. So there I was standing at the start line, looking around me and having a wee bitching session in my head whilst wondering who I could beat. From the tiny number of people, it didn't seem like I'd do all that well.

Once the horn went off and everyone went running and diving into the sea, it was just mad swimming all the way. I say that but about halfway through the swim I got tired. Really really tired. My heart was pounding, my arms were aching and the turn-around point just seemed too far. So I slowed down. I figured if I went on the speed I was going, I was just going to die and it wasn't something I was looking forward to.

After that little break I took I picked up speed again and found myself behind Ironman Tights. And it was a real bitch trying to overtake him. It wasn't as if he were particularly speedy, because if that was the case, I'd be perfectly happy drafting behind him. But no! He'd be breast-stroking, then when I swam left to overtake he'd go left freestyle. I'd cut back and he'd go back to breast-stroke. So I tried cutting right and the same thing would happening. It was really really frustrating. Finally I managed to squeeze between him and the ropes and with all that was left I kicked through and put some distance between us. It was bloody tiring.

That basically was the highlight of the swim. After I left Ironman Tights in the dust, I reached the turn-around point and managed a smooth (albeit uneventful) swim to the end - where I have ran and half stumbled to the finish point.

I bumped into a friend as I was leaving who had brought his dog down for a swim in the beach and he informed me that some ass had let their dog take a dump in the same damn lagoon I was swimming in! Dang! I went home to brush my teeth and gargled some Listerine. Dog poop waters. Not pleasant.

So, I found out yesterday, I got 2nd! Well, out of 5 people in my category. Which kind of sucks. I can't feel proud of myself because 2 out of 5 just isn't something worth getting all excited over. Darn....

Time: 12min 34sec

Pics from the Osim Triathlon







I got caught on film strolling! Darn!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Bitchin' Achin'

After doing nothing last week, my foray back into exercise has been tough. Went for swim training on Tuesday and suffered through that. Then PT class yesterday and I can't walk properly now. I also can't get out of my chair, can't walk down stairs, and numerous other things....

Swim training again tonight. Hopefully all goes well! Load up the Deep Heat!

What I've done:
Tuesday: Swim training 1 hr
Wednesday: Personal training 1 hr

Monday, May 3, 2010

Tri-Bob Sprint Series: Mini Triathlon Race Report

I swam 150m and I got stung by a jellyfish. And that was the extent of my race. Bummed!!!!

Friday, April 30, 2010

Pics from the Tri-Bob Duathlon

I only put them in because I look cool in them. Well, at least I think so if anything!





Monday, April 19, 2010

Still No Running

I need to change that little thing I wrote at the top of this blog about running and how I enjoy it since I haven't actually done any running at all (races aside - even then 'running' is used fast and loose) in the last few months. This weekend was no different.

I started the weekend having real grandiose plans - Saturday I'd wake up early for swim training and then pilates after and Sunday I'd go cycling in the morning and climbing in the afternoon. Surprise surprise I only accomplished 50% of that.

Saturday

Swim training kind of fell off the radar when I got to bed mad late on Friday after a night of the wines with my sister at the Club. I managed to drag myself out of bed for a much missed Pilates session with Karrie and felt better for it. Although, as always, Karrie decided on giving us a real killer session and my left tricep (yes, only the left one) is aching. The rest of the day was spent at my alumni's AGM where a rather tragic number of people turned up.

Headed to church after. I'm not a regular attendee of the Saturday service, but I had big plans to do a lot of things on Sunday, so I thought I'd leave my Sunday morning open to accomplishing that. My good ole buddy dropped me off at home and ogled my bike after, so it ended up being a pretty neat day.

Sunday

In spite of all my 'get up early to bike' plans, I did not get up early and I did not bike in the morning. Instead I lounged around reading my book. Then I went for an early lunch - still had plans of going biking - and cancelled my climb class. After lunch I went for a couple of cocktails with my sister. In the middle of the day. By this time, I had pretty much counted the day as lost. BUT I still made it out biking! I dragged my sister along with me and went for a 2 hr ride at East Coast, sweated out the alcohol (frankly my cocktails tasted pretty much like fruit punches) and worked off the cocktail calories.


So overall it wasn't that bad a weekend. Granted I didn't actually do everything I planned to do, but I did finish my book ('Evidence' by Jonathan Kellerman - did I ever mention I was a big psychological thriller/murder mystery fan?!?) and I did get some exercise in. And the AGM wasn't overly dramatic, so life was all good!

What I did:
Last Wednesday: 1 hr Personal Training
Saturday: 1 hr Pilates
Sunday: 2 hr Bike ride (approx 26k covered...t'was a slow ride admittedly)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

OSIM Singapore International Triathlon - Mini Category Race Report

Firstly I'm really proud of myself for showing up. I had been starting to develop this bad habit of not showing up for races when I did them alone so the fact that I was even at the start point was, to me, a pretty big deal!

For a first (albeit the wimpy category) triathlon, the weather couldn't be better. It was overcast the throughout the entire race and didn't start raining till I was done. Okay, it probably wasn't so great for the guys in the sprint category, but...er...frankly I don't really care. Hah!

I got to East Coast about an hour early to set up shop in the transition area (TA). Hunted around for a bag drop, and realised my little allocated space in the TA was pretty much my bag drop/swim transition/run transition/etc etc (talk about multi-purpose!). After organising everything nicely, I had a pee in what had to be the filthiest portaloos and I was ready to warm up and go!

Swim Leg

I started somewhere in the front. I've learnt that starting behind really really sucks because I just keep getting kicked in the face by all these breast-strokers. As it was, even though I started near the front, I still had someone swim over me (very weird moment!), had someone slap my hand a few times and someone kick me somewhere.

Truth is, I don't think I felt much during the swim because I was all pumped up with adrenalin. I did find a couple of scratches here and there when I was showering, but well. And I guess I can't complain all too much about the kicking because I know I did give someone a kick in the face. I also stopped and apologised. Which makes me rock, because no one else actually stopped to apologise and I did! All the same, this 200m swim was way longer than the 200m swim at the Tri-bob Aquathlon, and we were swimming against a pretty fierce current, so that took quite a bit out of you.

I think I could have afforded to put a bit more into the swim, but I kept thinking I still had a bike ride and a run to go, so I held back on power Gerry! I did pretty okay though, came in 11th out of 120 peeps so I'm not complaining!

Time: 08:20 minutes

Bike Leg

This was a pretty bad moment for me. I thought I was going pretty damn fast but tons and tons of mountain bikes were overtaking me. It was just demoralising after a while. I tried to go a bit faster, but then my brain kept constantly reminding me I still had a run to do. After my speedy swim, this was really nothing to scream about. In fact it was kind of blah. By the time I was done and got to the TA, I was pretty tired. I guess I haven't really been doing as much cycling training as I thought I did. My legs were wobbly and I just couldn't run in with my bike. Well, I tried and I ran into my bike wheel, so I opted for strolling in with my bike. Came in 55th for this leg - not cool

Time: 33:18mins

Run Leg

Not my proudest moment. It was a 2k run, the weather was great for a run and what did I do? I strolled. I ambled along slowly. I wasn't even brisk walking. Of course I had a stitch. I hadn't done any running the past goodness-knows-how-long, what else did I expect. So this leg proved (doh!) to be my downfall. I don't even have anything to say about it because nothing happened. Had (a very humiliating) 101st slowest time for this leg needless to say.

Time: 15:38mins

Overall Time: 57:44 (Ranked 55th)

Friday, April 9, 2010

Humpy Grumpy Camel

I'm in a mood today. A rather grouchy one. Maybe it's a lack of sleep. Maybe it's just that I find boys have double standards and won't ever admit it (plus they're every bit as self-absorbed as they think we are!). Maybe it's because I'm aching from swim training. Maybe it's just that I woke up on the wrong side of bed. Maybe it's all of the above. I really just want to go to a corner and cry like a baby. Aaaaaargh! This sucks ass.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Getting Lazy

Since the last entry, I've made numerous plans to run and have in reality achieved a big fat ZERO in mileage. It's weird, I've just managed to just turn off running. I've also not been swimming as much, ignored text messages from my trainer to go for PT classes this week and only did 1 bike ride this weekend. Of course I would choose to get lazy just before my first ever mini tri! I am by far one of the greatest underperformers of all time.

What I've done:
Thursday - 1 hr Swim training
Friday - Biked 26k
Saturday - 2hr Climbing

Monday, March 29, 2010

Post-Race

What have I done since my race? The answer - Picked up one nasty stomach upset that pretty much put every exercise-related activity on the backseat and any toilet-related one right up front. It's been a pretty miserable last week. But I did manage to squeeze in a short short swim the weekend before last before being a pathetic mess for the next few days.

Last Friday I thought the worst was over and went out for food with two of my best girls for dinner....and drinks. Bad idea. Well, the drinks, not the company. Obviously we played till too late, which meant everything I planned to do Saturday morning went to the dogs. I did climb in the afternoon, but then my tummy acted up again.

I didn't learn my lesson and went out again on Saturday night for Mongolian food and more drink. Now my stomach is just all messed up and I'm not a happy bunny. That said, I did manage a 24k bike ride from the windsurfing club to SAF Ferry Terminal! Okay, it's not THAT far but what the hell, I'm happy with it and that's all that matters.

Meanwhile, I'm taking a break from alcohol, oily food, dairy products and anything that could potentially send me rushing to the toilet again! And this mission starts after I finish my last latte for a while...sigh.....

What I've done:
Saturday:1.5hr Rockclimbing
Sunday: 24k Bike ride

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tri-bob Singapore Sprint Series: Mini Duathlon Race Report

G bailed on me for this race. Boo to her. Technically it wasn't really her fault since her bike couldn't fit into the cab and she couldn't get to the race...BUT seeing as I was all by my miserable self in Seng Kang while she got back into bed and probably had a good day's sleep, I don't feel particularly sympathetic!

The race started at 9.30am and it was already bleeding hot then. *If you realise that I keep complaining about the weather, it's really because it is so darn hot in Singapore!* I started off slowly for the 1.5k run leg (I mentioned before that G and I decided to go the wimp way and signing up for only mini categories in the Sprint Series this year) but people started dropping in the heat so I overtook a number of people here and there. I tried to pace myself knowing I still had to do a 12k bike ride followed by another 1.5k run after.

I was slow in transition. Kind of forgot where I put my bike so had to backtrack and find it. Then I slowly wheeled it out of the transition area. I think the heat had gotten to me by then.

The bike leg was...well...okay. I don't think I was super speedy, but I don't think I was THAT slow either. There were times when I was tired and there were times I got my second wind. I really don't think I thought much about it either way actually!

The next transition was when it really really started sucking. I got off my bike and wheeled it back into transition and realised my legs were as heavy as stone. That wasn't too good seeing as I was going to start my run soon. Anyhow, chucked the bike back, tried to shake off the lactic acid and started on the last run leg.

The last 1.5k was a nightmare. My brain was screaming at my legs and my legs just had a life of their own. Or rather they didn't. I couldn't move them as fast as I was pumping my arms...which of course made me look completely stupid. So I stopped and walked. And walked. And walked. I tried to trot a little, but ended up walking to the water stop. I just had nothing left in me. Grabbed an isotonic drink and thought I'd run the last 200m. Yes it's sad, that's all the distance I ran in the final 1.5k run leg.

So I checked my average time and it was (surprise surprise) below average. Overall I finished 25th out of 47 people in the category.

Race Results:
1.5k Run: 09:01mins (15th in category)
12k Bike: 32:18mins (22nd in category)
1.5k Run: 13:33mins (37th in category)
Total: 57:39mins

After the race, I went down to the windsurfing club and met up with the rest of the gang and had a couple of wines before Merle and I decided to go for a bike ride. I walked with her to bike rentals to get a bike and then both of us did a comfortable 20k ride in our flip flops.

So now my ankles hurt and I'm pretty sure that it's from doing 20k in flip flops. But it could well be that I'm so damn unfit a small little mini duathlon just floored me.

What I've done:
Last Tuesday: 1hr Spin then ran 800m on treadmill
Last Wednesday: 1hr PT class
Sunday: 20k bike ride

Monday, March 8, 2010

A Half Eventful Weekend

Essentially Saturday was good and Sunday was bad.

Saturday:
Woke up early after a good night's sleep and brought my new bike down to East Coast Park for a ride. Didn't know how to take the front wheel off in the morning so loaded it into the cab precariously. Got it to East Coast all the same and did a nice 20 over KM ride from the windsurfing club to Changi Beach and back. I managed to get a couple of the windsurfing guys to teach me what to do with my wheels so managed to get the front wheel off the bike on the cab ride home. Legs ached but it was all good. I then rushed for my best gal's birthday party and proceeded to stuff my face. Fantastic party in a really rustic restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Happy Birthday Jenny!

Then it all turned pear-shape. I met a friend who was leaving Singapore for her farewell around 5.30pm. And that was also when I started the drinkies. I finished the drinkies at 1am. Not good.

Sunday:
Struggled to get up for church. Went to church massively hungover and sleepy and (sorry God!) found it really difficult following the sermon. In fact, I don't any part of the sermon except that it was about the gift of prophesy. Headed off to visit an aunt we hadn't seen in a while - also as a sort of very very late Chinese New Year visiting...I stuffed my face (for the second time in two days) and then made it for what was probably the most pointless rockclimbing session I've ever had. I achieved absolutely nothing with that class. I was tired, my arms/legs weren't listening to my brain, my brain was fried....it was just so very very pointless. I feel bad even getting my instructor to go down to give me such a lame lesson since I was pretty hopeless.

So there you are. A half eventful weekend. One day packed and the other wasted. Moral of the story: STAY OFF THE DRINKIES!...or just not drink for as long as I did. To the next weekend then!

What I did:
Saturday - 20k cycling
Sunday - 1.5hr of "rockclimbing"

On a last note, I need a name for my new bike! It's not been christianed yet!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Bad Swimming Day

So I figure if I get bad days at running, I probably should get bad days at swimming and last night was it for me. To begin with my muscles were pretty much shot even before swim training. And then the coach had some crazy ass plan scheduled out which involved a lot of finning and paddle work (I HATE paddle work!). The thing is, when I do the pull drills, instinctively I start kicking like a crazy person. It could just be me just not being comfortable breathing on my left pulls. But it made me pretty damn tired kicking with legs that could barely work. It was a sluggish session and I felt like I was doing everything wrong. Obviously I couldn't finish the entire session because I was taking so long doing the drills. Ah well. Just a bad day, I guess. My consolation though is a bad swimming day is still much better than a bad running day. Those are the worst!

What I did yesterday:
1hr swim training

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Schleeepy and Achy

I haven't been sleeping well lately. My body clock's been all over the place since the race and has been exacerbated by the fact I had to wake up at some godforsaken hour on Monday to get to the office early and finish some work (my own fault for procrastinating).

I think the alcohol nights since Saturday haven't helped too. On Saturday (yes, that's the night before my race - in hindsight it probably wasn't the brightest idea) I had wines at Caitriona's. On Sunday...on Sunday I actually didn't drink much because I was so wiped out. Monday was drinks with Chereen after Ling Long's birthday and yesterday R and I polished off a bottle of wine between us two. Tonight might actually turn out to be an exception drinks-wise and I might just go back home in an alcohol-free state.

So I'm sleepy now especially since I've just had a very tough PT session and I can barely feel my arms/legs/stomach. Hopefully this carries on till tonight and I'll sleep like a baby!

What I've done:
Yesterday - Spin class for 1hr
Today - 1hr PT class

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tri-bob Singapore Sprint Series: Mini Aquathlon Race Report

I came in 9th in my category for the swim leg! How awesome am I! Of course I failed at my run and managed a very sad 32nd place. I finished 21st overall which meant that at least 12 people overtook me in the run!

The swim leg this year started in the middle of nowhere. Unlike last year, the event was moved to Siloso beach this year and the start point was shifted to the middle of the lagoon. So essentially you crossed a bridge to a little beach where you had to swim to the start point and tread water till the race actually starts. I'm sure someone thought it was a splendid idea. They were wrong. I'm pretty alright with treading water and swimming in the sea, but it just wasn't fair to other people who didn't feel as comfortable drifting around. Maybe that's why I got 9th! (I feel this need to constantly bring this up somehow!)

There was a pretty strong current in our favour when we started and I really didn't feel like I expended much energy in the entire swim leg. Somehow the 250m didn't feel any bit like 250m. And I really don't think it's because I've trained a lot in the past month and was so well-prepared that 250m felt like nothing. I think they measured wrong.

The run leg was a nightmare. The first 100m went well. I was pretty darn proud of myself. I was giving myself mental back pats, gloating in the fact that I was near the front end of a race for a change. It very rapidly went downhill after. I had a stitch on one side. So I tried breathing different. Then I had a stitch on the other side as well. I thought I'd run a little slower, but my legs stopped listening to me and happily ran their own merry way until I had to come to a complete stop. Drank some water. Waved at G as she was heading to her run. Trotted slowly to water stop. Got told off by a volunteer that I wasn't taking the race seriously (What was it to him anyway how I was taking the race). Near the end I figured I should dig in my heels and run madly to the finish line. So that's what I did. And I overtook 1 person. Woo hoo.

I wanted to throw up after the entire experience. I knew my swim went well, but the run just took everything out of me. Especially since I've been avoiding running training in the past few weeks/months. It's 2 days after the race and my legs are still a bit sore. Boohoo.

Race results:
Swim leg: 200m in 2min 46s (I think the distance/time is wrong, there's no way I swam that fast)
Transition: 1min 11s
Run leg: 2.5k in 16min 15s
Total: 20min 14s

Incidentally what I have since the last post:
Wednesday: Swam 300m
Thursday: Swim training 1 hr
Saturday: Pilates 1 hr

Monday, February 22, 2010

My post-snowboarding endeavours

After my blissful time in Hokkaido snowboarding, I decided that I really needed to get back to doing my non-running sports so last weekend I went rockclimbing and windsurfing the next day. The rockclimbing turned out alright, not many aches and pains after, which led me to foolishly think I was uber fit. I have come to the conclusion that it was only because I was sharing my lesson with a good friend, so I climbed for half the time, hence hot and sweaty, but without the aching muscles.

How did I find out? I went windsurfing on Sunday and it was brutal. In essence, I sucked. BIG TIME. I guess it part it was just complete lack of practice. All the bad habits I managed to erase are all back. Which means I'm hardly sailing and I'm just dropping my sail, uphauling it, dropping it, uphauling it....you get the picture. It was very very depressing. All the muscle aches and nothing to show for it. I barely sailed yesterday. Instead half the time was spent hauling my board back to shore to rest because it was so dang tiring! Round 2 next week. Fingers crossed I'll do some sailing!

What I did:
Friday: Ran 3.5k
Saturday: Rockclimbing 2hr (or rather 1hr)
Sunday: Windsurfing

Friday, February 19, 2010

Snowboarding in Hokkaido

I just got back yesterday from Japan and I'm sooooo sad! After 4 straight days of snowboarding in Hokkaido (waaaay too short), I was depressed when we had to pack up and leave for Tokyo. The parents were probably bored out of their mind, since mostly everything about Niseko (or any other ski resort) is just ski ski ski or snowboard snowboard snowboard...Since they did neither of both, they just walked around the village a lot. But the snow...oh the snow in Niseko was heaven. Pure powder. The best day we had was when my sis and I got up for our respective classes at 8.30 in the morning and it was just beautiful, fresh snow. And we were knee-deep in it. It was probably one of the best moments of my life. Or maybe I'm exaggerating, but it was pretty close to being one of the best moments in any case.

After 4 days of sweet snow, we headed to Tokyo and I was pretty bummed. For one, I was used to waking up and doing something for a whole day, but now I was stuck waking up early and going for a short swim then walking around aimlessly in the city. The main problem is, I'm a bad shopper. I don't really go out and buy something unless I need something (okay, there are some days I go a bit mad and just buy random crap) so to be 'shopping' everyday was kind of dull. The food was fantastic though, but you generally expect nothing less from Tokyo. I didn't have a chance to hit any jazz bars (which was my original plan) because I was just too tired at nights. My sister and her bf would generally head back to the room past 1am every night and whilst trying to be as quiet as they could, somehow managed to make just enough noise to wake me. I guess Tokyo would have been great if it came before Hokkaido. Because it was after, it basically just succeeded in being rather dull. I did swim about 3 times there and did a very short run as well, so it wasn't like I just ate and sat on my fat ass!

No pictures. I'm terrible at taking pictures and even more terrible at uploading them. This time around it was too cold for me to want to take my hands out of my gloves to snap a shot, although I am pleased to say that the camera survived the bitter cold that is Hokkaido and is back in Singapore in one piece.

What I did
Mon (8th Feb) - Thurs (11th Feb): Snowboarding
Saturday (13th): 500m Swim
Monday (14th): 45 minutes in the gym
Tuesday (15th): 375m Swim
Wednesday (16th): 375m Swim

Friday, February 5, 2010

Back to the Groove

I've let myself get really lazy towards the end of last year and this year I've made my mind up to change that. I've gone for spin classes and I've been turning up for swim training. The problem is though, a part of me is worried that I'm being a bit over-enthusiastic about all this, which will inevitably lead to a burn-out. I know, I know, I don't really train hard enough to even have 'burn-out' as a word in my dictionary, but if I look back on last year, a certain pattern emerges. I started the year off on a bang and was training regularly or somewhat so. I ended the year on a limp and a huge gut. Why? Because I just got bored. My short attention span kicked in and I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

So I'm going to try to tweak my training this year. Instead of planning a run or two every month, I'm going to have a big run that I look to and then take a rest after. Also, I think I'm going to lay off the half marathons until I feel comfortable with the 10k runs. Maybe another adventure race in the middle of the year and then work towards doing sprint distance in a triathlon. That's the aim. Although I'm well aware I might get distracted/bored at the end of the day. We'll see.

Meanwhile, what I've done this week so far:
Tuesday: Swim training for 1 hr
Wednesday: Personal training
Thursday: Swim training for 45 minutes

Going for a short short run today. First in ages. Wish me luck!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Safra AvVentura 2010 Race Report

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 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

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)

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!

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.