Sick again.

There is something very wrong with my immune system. I'm sick again. For the umpteenth time this year. I swear, if I actually counted, I'd scare myself. Shouldn't I be really fit and strong and healthy? Shouldn't I fall sick much less than people who do not regularly exercise? Urgh. Not fair I tell you.

And because every time I fall sick and fail to go to work, I lose out on income. I need to find other means of income or else I'm gonna lose it one day.

I was thinking about my big dream to own my own place next time. My own community health centre. And the more I thought about it, the more I think I don't have the experience, or the knowledge or the network to start building my own business yet. I think about the people I work for, they all succeed because of their many many many years in the industry. They know their stuff.

I need to get there someday. I'd better have one solid idea for my business then.

meh.

I sometimes get little sparks of ideas which make me go, "OMG I got it! It's gonna be huge!". And I really wish I have the drive to follow those ideas and make them a reality. But then the rational part of my brain takes over and I start to think (which is a dream killer). I need more drive in me.

I haven't been running on my own in ages. I don't know why. I've kinda lost the mood to run. It's just whenever I find the time to run, it would be a decision I'd have to make between run and sleep. Sleep always trumps run. I think I love to sleep more than I love to run now. Oh, shoot me please.

I cannot wait for the school holidays. I've cut my school time down to only 2 days! And I've only got 3 more weeks of it. That's only 6 days! Why, oh why, do I feel so restless?!

The Auckland Marathon was last weekend and a few of my friends did really well! I wish I was there with them. It would've been my 3rd Auckland Marathon. I wonder if I can still run marathons any more. Maybe I totally suck at them now. *eek*

I'm being completely and utterly random tonight BECAUSE...(I think) Gary's coming home tomorrow morning and I'm so excited to see him that I cannot sleep. And I'm dreading the amount of work hours I have to go through before I get to meet him tomorrow night. Meh.

And it's October

Can you believe it? Gosh, the time!!

I spent the entire day today lounging around. Which isn't good, because when I don't do anything it means I don't earn anything. I've just gotten myself 2 days off from teaching in the school so I can focus more on Personal Training. But while I was able to make a couple of those materialise, I still need to work on getting more clients in during the day. Housewives and Aunties where are you?

I've been so busy for so long that when I finally got a day of doing nothing (Gary's in the States, hence I've been free), I found myself indulging in old episodes of Friends and getting emotional about Ross and Rachel. And then I decided to take a nap and that nap went on for 2 hours. Well, in my defence I did get up at 5 am this morning and slept at 12 last night and had a killer weekend. So I think I was just having a little down time. Rewind. Recharge. That jazz.

I tried to write something for my fitness site but nothing came to mind! In fact for the longest time, I haven't had any idea what to write about. I remember having a clue sometime back but I didn't have the time to sit down and do the research then. Today, I wish I had jotted that idea down somewhere. Geez.

Something hit me over the weekend. I realised that I am probably at my strongest, fittest form, ever. I ran 10km in 50 minutes. I look at myself in the mirror and I have to say I'm quite happy about how I'm looking. Friends are telling me that I look extremely fit from the photos they see on Facebook. I think I should take this opportunity to do something great! You know, before I go over the hill. And so, sitting down at a mamak after cycling 33kms with some friends, sipping teh c ais, and having my roti with 2 telur, I decided, I'm gonna do an IronMan. By hook or by crook, I'm going to achieve an IronMan before I hit 30. So, there.

And while I'm at it, why not do more things? Buy a property, join a gym and do RPM again, take vocal lessons. So much I want to do!

I really need to make more money.

The comeback half marathon

I didn't really tell many this but I thought of the Brooks Half Marathon on Sunday as my comeback race. After an extremely disappointing performance at the PJ Half and Penang Bridge Marathon last year I deduced that my hyperthyroidism was back and a blood test affirmed my deductions. So I have been staying away from races, with the exception of the Newton New Year Challenge on January 1st which was only a month after I begun my medication again, so I was still drugged and not my 100% just yet.

I am still on my medication, but I've been feeling heaps better! I've also been training harder than usual just to make a good comeback at last Sunday's run. And I think I kinda did! Well, somewhat there la. There was one minor setback but overall I'm happy that I'm pretty much back to my form!

I went for the race with my dad, and it started in the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. It was my first time ever in this stadium and the moment I walked in I felt a sense of awe. It's a really gorgeous stadium, I think it's of international standards and I could almost feel the presence of great athletes from all over the world just warming up and getting ready for their respective events in this stadium. It's a very humbling, yet inspiring feeling, I can't quite explain it. But the sports arena always does that to me. =)

So the run started alright. My legs felt strong, and I felt strong, but my tummy was a little unhappy. I have only myself to blame for that because I ate a whole bunch of stuff (trying to be clever). I ate half a powerbar (because it was free), 2 bananas, a slice of wholemeal bread, and I took half a shot of Red Bull (from NZ) which had very much expired. :D I wasn't in turmoil or anything, but I did keep an eye out for the porta-loos. The porta-loos only appeared after 5 kms into the race. I went in, did my business, and went back out feeling a whole lot better!

Before I went off to the loo, I was pacing with this guy wearing a LowYat.Net vest. He had a good pace to follow, just right for me, and he kept quiet too, so I didn't have to make to much conversation to follow him. But after I went off, I figured he'd be way ahead of me by then so I ran on my own. But the relief must've been a good one because I caught up with the same pacer again in under 2 kms and soon was keeping up with his pace again for the rest of the race!

The hills in Bukit Jalil are out to KILL, I tell you and if I weren't so in love with pain (from running, nothing else) I probably would've died. But I didn't. I happily overtook a handful of people each time we went uphill and I thanked all the Insanity and P90X and Nike Training Club training sessions I had with Olya and Wenisa! Thanks for making my legs nice and powerful, babes!

I finished the race in 2:05. It felt good eventhough it was 5 minutes off target. Hills plus toilet factor can account for that 5 minutes. =)

With that, I'm happy to say I'm back in the game, sistaz! Watch out for me in the next one!

Up to my frickin' eyes.

I have been working as a full time personal trainer/fitness instructor/high school PE teacher for about 7 months now. And I know that most people are still under the impression that I don't really DO work. As in my work is more like fun, hence it's not really working. I agree, to a certain extend. I love my job, it's what I dreamt about.

But I am so.darn.tired. I am constantly, constantly going to bed at night, feeling like I've had my batteries kicked out of me. I lie my head down on my pillow and there is that moment of pure relief, that feeling of blood finally being able to flow slowly back into my brains, feeling the weight finally easing away from my feet, feeling my muscles finally able to just relax and not contract any more. Every.single.night. I mean, I am up to my frickin' eyes with clients to train, kids to teach, 5 am mornings to wake up to, programs to write and read, miles to log for my poor deprived marathon legs, and just life to live. It's just a taaaaadddd worried that I'm running myself into the ground. I used to say I'd love to go to bed every night, feeling completely and utterly drained.

I take that back.

My client's dad commented today that I am all puffy eyed and tired looking. He said "Be careful, don't burn yourself out." I think I should start taking heed.

But I just have to say, that apart from awfully tired bones and eyes, MAN, do I LOVE my life! :)

Happiness

Hello! Really haven't been good with this whole blogging thing seeing that my last post was about 3 weeks ago. Gosh, Karen, what have u been so damned busy with?

Ok. Ohp-daytes!

So I've been making a conscious effort to train more. When I say train more, I actually mean actually train, literally. Because I used to not train, ever. Well...in Auckland, I trained quite a bit, but that was Auckland, what else was I gonna do there? But yeah, I've been doing well with logging in about 3 runs per week, and seeing a steady progress in my running pace. I've also carried on with strength training just to *ahem* keep in shape and actually look like a Personal Trainer. This I manage to do about 2 sessions per week. So yeah, pretty good stuff, looking forward to keeping this up for another 3 more weeks which is when Brooks Half Marathon is. Fingers crossed, I maintain my upward trend in my running pace and hopefully meet a sub 1:50 half marathon. :D

Work has been exciting and invigorating! Starting to get into the groove of my hectic schedule and I think teaching is a lot more enjoyable now that I no longer feel so lost in the school activity hall. The higher income helps, too. And more PT clients make me feel more established as a Personal Trainer (or, at the very least, on the way to getting established). So things are just sweeellll!! :D

Boyfriend is amazing. Valentine's Day was special because he cooked me dinner, and got me a gift which I feel really really grateful for! <3 I probably didn't do so well on the gift front, but I'll get better!

Now I was gonna write about something quite tragic, hence the title "Happiness". It was supposed to be an irony, but I'm a little too tired to carry on writing now and it is waaaaay past my bedtime, so hopefully I'll get to do so tomorrow. Otherwise it might actually be a good 3 weeks before I pen those thoughts down *eek!*.

Till then, goodnight world!

It's not a resolution per se...

I want to do this right this time. My brother is always saying I should just try it once, train really hard and properly for one race and see how the outcome is. I'm thinking maybe it's time I test this theory.

I never know what I am truly capable of because I'm never serious enough to put in the dedicated hours of training for a specific race. I write programs for people every day. I spell out instructions and goals for people to achieve. I tell them if they want it bad enough they'll get there. Oh don't I know it. But I am utterly bad at keeping my own discipline. I just let too many things get in the way. haha...

So I'm gonna try upping my training this time. I'm not gonna fix a set schedule, because, well who am I kidding, I'll never follow it once I know it's a "regime". But I'm going to make a conscious effort to sleep earlier, eat better, put in more hours of training, and stay focused until race day i.e. March 11th - Brooks Half Marathon. And if that goes well, I'm gonna stay focused and carry on for PJ Dawn in May. And hopefully by then I've gotten myself into the rhythm of things, that I can carry on and improve all my personal bests for the rest of the year! :D

So yeah.

But work is going to almost double up on me in the weeks to come. I cringe when I think of the sort of hours I'm going to be clocking in next time. But it has to be done. If there should be a resolution for this year at all, it would be to get rich. Rich in knowledge, rich in experience, and rich in the pocket too. =) Come on, Karen, ga yau!!!

Running related.

Running is a huge part of my life. I centre a lot of things around running. Like why I keep my hair long, so that I can tie it up in a tight ponytail to run. Or why I love buying socks and I only choose those that are light and not too loose, so I can use them for running. Or why I try not to make any plans on Sundays, because I'm usually running on that day. Or why I eat a lot of bananas and I'm never afraid of carbs, because in my job I am always running. Most of everything I do is running related. That's why when my running performance is affected by something, I get pretty upset.

The last time I felt a little different in my run was about 5 years ago. It came as suddenly as a thunderstorm, without much warning, affecting my run very distinctly. All of a sudden, I was unable to run any more. When I told that to my friends, they couldn't understand me. What do you mean, you can't run any more? I said I just couldn't! I would start my run at a leisurely jogging pace and then within 15 minutes I'd be panting as if I had finished 20 clicks. It was bizarre! When I told that to my family, being the sportsmen they are, they told me I wasn't putting in enough training. They said, I can't keep improving without training. Sooner or later I'll start going downhill and I'd have to up my training to keep up. So I trained more and more and every time I tried the same thing would happen, I'd run out of breath within 10 minutes. It brought me to tears wondering what was going on. Then I saw a doctor who made me take a blood test. I found out from the test results that I had hyperthyroidism. I was put on medication and it was horrible. I gained weight, I looked like a balloon, I had hives and itched everywhere as a side effect of that medication, and I felt miserable. The medication course took 6 months and I was ok again after that. My running went back to normal and I was smashing personal best times again. =)

Fast forward to today. The past few races I have taken part in have been miserable. I am constantly tired these days and I have been told by many that I seem to be losing a lot of weight. I like the weight loss bit, but I really don't like all these "cannot run any more" business. So after a depressing Penang Bridge marathon, I went to take the same blood test again. The doc also mentioned I have been losing weight, so he said it has most likely recurred. Today I took the test results and I was right. I am once again hyperthyroidic - if there's such a word.

I've been given a 6 month course of medication again. I am probably going to be quite miserable again, but hey, I am looking forward to the time I can run again. And I'll be smashing my PBs again, just you wait and see.

Running a half marathon isn't quite like ABC anymore.

I ran the PJ Half marathon yesterday morning, and I did it in 2 hours 5 minutes. That is about 10 minutes or more slower than my best half marathon time. So I've finally accepted that I am no longer that good a runner. No more excuses, no more "I didn't eat well the night before" bull sh*t. I'm just going to admit it. As a long distance runner of more than a decade of experience, I now kinda suck. Maybe at age 25, after running for 12 years, I've gone past the peak, and am now in the downhill phase. Stink.

The weather was extremely hot though, and even though I thought I could handle that sort of heat pretty well, I think my 3 years in Auckland has made me a bit less tolerant of the tropical rainforest climate, especially during physical exertion. Or maybe that's just another excuse. hahaha...I ran probably the first 12km with relative ease, and then the heat just got the better of me, so I kinda ran-walked the remaining 9kms - the walking became more frequent towards the last few kms. I was feeling extremely warm, and I was drying up like a prune. Even 12 hours post race, my face was still radiating heat. That was how baked I got.

But whatever I lacked in drive yesterday, I made up in style :D I ran the half marathon with my devil horns like I did last year in Auckland, because it's Halloween. And because I'm in typical Malaysia, I was the only person to dress up, and thus, got plenty of attention...which is always kinda nice, even if it is not for the reasons I hoped for. I even got my face in today's The Star! So not too bad la, I was quite happy about the race despite it being one of my worst times ever.

Hopefully I'll do a bit better for Powerman and Penang Bridge. =)

Anaerobic or aerobic power?

When I was a little kid in primary school, I never liked running. I never wanted to follow my mum and dad to the Subang lake to go jogging because I was afraid it was a place only for pros and I was conscious that people might laugh at me. I was always an active kid, but I took part in telematch sports more like running in the gunny sack, or 3 legged race. I was queen of the monkey bars in the playground, and I've always loved hula hoops. In Standard 4 (Age 10), I became a rhythmic gymnast after my mum saw the bigger girls dancing with pretty leotards in school. And when I first started, I was pretty good at it. =) Then as the choreographed routines got more complex and harder to remember, I didn't do so well any more...haha...but I still loved it. I still think rhythmic gymnastics is the most beautiful sport.

At age 13 I took part in a jogathon. It was 7 km and I had signed up with a bunch of my friends for fun. I came home with a prize. That was the beginning of my long distance running career. I guess I had the right genes for it because I never took it seriously enough to train hard for it, but I always manage to clinch some sort of prize. Also not many girls my age took part in runs so I had a very good chance. And as I grew older, the more I ran the better I got. From my running, I went into triathlons, and duathlons, and marathons. So that was cool. =) By the time I was in uni, I have already been in the long distance running scene for about a decade.

So aerobic power has been my forte for the past >10 years. No matter what happened in my life, I always had my cardio endurance. And then Work happened. Boot camp is all about sprints, drills, grunts. High intensity interval training with minimal rest periods in between. Training people who are less fit than me, I run at a much slower pace. And long working hours meant I am more often than not too lazy to train. To make sure I still work up a sweat every now and then, I resort to short 30 minute work outs at home, which, you can probably guess, consists of more high intensity interval training. SOOO...as proven by my dismal performance this morning (4.8 km run in 31 minutes), I think I am slowly turning from an aerobic to an anaerobic athlete! Now I understand why a lot of my fellow marathoners have now turned into Crossfitters and what not. Endurance training just takes too much effort sometimes. haha...

It's not a bad thing to be. Anaerobic power is an amazing trait, but I think I'm more comfortable being an endurance runner. So, I hope I don't lose it. I keep telling myself I need to train up, but I know it's gonna take a great deal of will power to get my game into high gear and start clocking in those miles. Oh, let there be faith!

The Legend Marathon

I signed up for this race sometime in June. It had showed up in my email and when I saw that the date was close to graduation, I was more than pleased. I felt like I needed to make my trip back to NZ a bit more worth while so I signed up for it without much hesitation. The next day I boasted about it to my colleagues and friends and I remember my boss, the owner of Configure, saying to me, "Oh that one's a toughie. You need to add about 30-45 minutes to your best marathon time to that one. It's quite mean!" Oh, darn. And then my girlfriend Ingrid said her boyfriend did it and had to add about 35 minutes to his best time, and he's a pretty awesome marathoner. So, that would mean I'd have to add more than that because I'm not that strong a runner as he is. A quick search on Google and I found out that the Kiwis rate this to be the toughest on-road marathon in NZ. To be completely honest, that got me more keen. :D

Time really sped by and before I knew it, I was on the plane back to Auckland again. I touched down Friday morning. Had not had much sleep on the flight, which turned out to be a good thing because by 9.30 pm Auckland time, which was 5.30 pm KL time, I was more than ready to go to bed.

I got up at 4.45 am on Saturday morning. Heather picked me up at 5.15 am, and we got to the race venue before 6 am. 6.30 am was start time. It was freeeeeeeezingggg cold, so I decided to run with my yellow jumper on. I knew I'd regret it later on because I'd have to take it out and then it'd be a liability, but I couldn't stand the cold.

I started alright, running alongside Heather. I had my brother's iPod in my ears because I carelessly lost mine (again!). I also had my mobile phone with me to put RunKeeper on. About 10 minutes into the race, it started to drizzle, and then it started to pour. (it rained 4 times throughout this darn race!). My jumper got really soaked and heavy so I took it off about 8ks into the race. Cold, wet, and coughing, I had trouble keeping up with Heather, so after about 12ks of struggling to keep up the pace, I told her to go ahead. Took the pressure of me. haha...It wasn't until about 16ks into the race did the incline start to increase exponentially! That was when we started slowly (well, me anyway) tracking up to the Waitakere Ranges. It was insane! About 6 kms of possibly 30-40% gradient. Gosh. But I was loving it. I cursed the hills, but I was loving the fact that it lived up to its name. I kept thinking to myself, if i completed this I'd have the honour of saying I have done 8 marathons, and I just did NZ's toughest on road race. Hooyah! :D That was my motivation to keep going. I slowed to walk some of the uphills, but generally I kept on going whenever I see the road plateau. I knew a 4:30 time was going to be impossible, so I said as long as it was under 5 hours I'd be pretty happy with myself. I did just fly 10 hours the day before, and was sick for the most of last 2 weeks.

Long story short, I took in the fresh cold air and amazing scenery and came in in a time of 4 hours 48 minutes. I was happy. =)

8 marathons done! Now for Penang Bridge Marathon. hehe...

Salomon X Run 2011

It's been a while since I posted up a race report. I think I've kinda lost the interest in posting lengthy written reports since a single line of expression coupled with a post on my race route, pace and time on Facebook seems to get way more attention. It's a tech savvy world out there. =)

But I have mixed feelings about this morning's race. I went this morning not feeling too confident to begin with because I have not been training in the past 2 weeks. It is part because I was sick and part because I was just a lazy bum, still struggling with full time working hours and so on. Also, last night's dinner was BBQed lamb chops, cheese sausages and fried mee hoon. hmm, probably not the best pre race diet because i had a bit of indigestion this morning.

But no matter how many times I tell myself to just take it easy, stay calm, run your own race, this is an easy run, just go and have fun, and God knows what other self talk I do to ensure I take my competitiveness out of the equation, it always resurfaces the moment I see all the familiar faces at the start venue. All the self talk just dives out the door when I see the regular runners lined up at the start line, rearing to go. I wish, with all my heart, that I am able to pull off one of my fluke shots. (Must not have been flukes since I succeeded very frequently in the past). heh.

So anyway. Gun start. Off all the powerful women go, leading the pack. It took a lot of will power to refrain from keeping up this time, because I know I'm not 100%. I took a slower steady pace, so I can run the whole distance without stopping to walk. But it was useless. I stopped to walk halfway through a steep hill about 4 kms in. I was puffing like mad, my heart was pounding against my rib cage and I wondered whether my hyperthyroidism was back. Because I have never reached max heart rate doing a silly 10k run before. My tummy was bloated and uncomfortable. I picked up running again after the hill, but breathing was very hard.

I stopped another 2 more times after that. It was pathetic. I was going into self loathing at that time, and half my reserve energy was now used to refrain from tearing up. :( I know it's silly because I'm obviously not a 100% and a lesser performance should be expected but...sigh...it used to be a lot easier to bounce back when I was younger.

I think it's a social thing. I am very sad to see that my reputation as a young, fast female runner is now overshadowed by other younger, faster, prettier women out there. boo. So stupid, right, to think this way? I know. But it is still disappointing. Plus, with being a fitness trainer at Rebel and a Personal Trainer to others, I really wanted to be an inspiration to everyone. What inspiration can I be when I am overtaken by so many other less experienced runners.

I need to grow up. But it's so hard!! *pout*

[edit] Though I have to say the route this morning was gorgeous! It really reminded me of running in NZ with all the cows and horses and piles of poo along the track. haha..=)

Family.

I can tell that I've been a lot more attached to my family since coming back home. I go almost everywhere with mum and dad, even if it was just to go and pick Keith up from tuition down the block. I guess I really appreciate how close I am to them, and how I can just chat their ears off till the cows come home! haha...I don't know if they still enjoy my company, though. Maybe I'm starting to be a bit of a third wheel already. heh.

But since most of my friends are busy with work, chilling out with them is getting much less frequent unless I take the initiative to start calling everyone (which is a feat on its own), so after I've tried a couple of times, I've kinda given up. :p

I've been extremely slack with training for my legendary The Legend marathon. sei la. I think it's going to take me 5 hours. I just wake up at 5 every flippin' morning! And try as I might I can never get myself into be before 11 pm. I don't know why! Just got so much to do every night, and when I'm on my notebook I spend quite a bit of time getting my social networking fix. haha...so I end up using every free time I have taking naps here and there, or eating food to curb my ever growing hunger! I am turning into a glutton, ironically!

Like my brother says, I'll just have to wing it. But now I have bigger concerns than trying to safe my face from losing to a 57 year old grandma. I've just done something to my back, which *fingers crossed* isn't a sprain, or a hernia, or a slip disk. It has been hurting for 2 days now, if it still hurts tomorrow morning I think we can rule out DOMs and maybe consider an x ray scan.

Xterra Trail Run Series - Riverhead Forest

This morning I took part in the first Xterra Trail Run. Stan signed up as well, so we did the Super Long course together. 21kms of pure muddy, rocky, rugged terrain. <3 haha...

Over the past few days I have been working my legs out heaps. I went for a run up Mount Wellington on Friday morning, then took a spin class about an hour just after. Yesterday morning I took Bootcamp for Configure, for which I didn't run much, but I did lead the warm up up Mount Wellington again. And then I took another spin class at 10.30 am that same morning. And to add to that, I've been swamped with reports to complete, which meant I had very little sleep over the past few nights too.

Which is probably no wonder that my quad muscles started to cramp up about 8kms into the race. And then in a moment of pure clumsiness (Karen style), I slipped on a muddy patch, jammed my foot to stop myself, and pulled my quad. Ouch, is an understatement. I tried to massage it, and slowly stretch it out, which helped to ease the pain. Slowly I started to pick up the pace again.

Stan and I ran the rest of the way together. He's amazing motivation to keep going. It's pretty awesome, because the last time I truly enjoyed running alongside someone else was with Keeran for the first Genting Trailblazer. But we were in a team event then, so we kinda had to keep close together. And I wasn't going out with him. So that's a different story. =) Oh running with Lydia was cool too, but again, team event, must run together.

We finished the race in 3 hours and 9 minutes, roughly. I was quite happy =) I aimed for 3 hours, but with trail runs, you can never tell how long you're gonna take because the terrain is so unpredictable. Plus, pulling a muscle is no fun. But having somebody to run with, is a lot of good fun. And especially with the kind of terrain we went through today, I know that even the keenest running friends I've got would not have enjoyed it. The fact that Stan thoroughly enjoyed it just leaves me in disbelief, I can't believe I never met him sooner. =)

Halfway through, but nonethericher.

Week 6 of the Semester ended, and I am now at the start of my mid-term break. So yes, halfway through!

I've had quite a week. Busy with uni work as usual, but school aside, I encountered some events which gave me reason to think a little more. I think I try to lead a life that I think sounds cool and carefree, but in reality, I am quite rigid in my perceptions and I often find myself going back to what I find is comfortable and close to home. But, in saying that, saying goodbye to someone is never easy. And although it was brief and short-lived, I wouldn't say they were completely moments sans emotion. I guess for me, there are always strings attached.

I went out last night with the flatmates, hoping to re-enact the events of the Irish Pub night I had 2 weeks ago, because that was pretty fun. But it took all of the big bright flash of a hidden speed camera on the way to town to dampen my spirits for the next few hours. Everything didn't seem as fun after that. I thought the singer was pretty average, and the energy levels weren't quite there. I thought the pint I had tasted boring. I thought the crowd were kinda creepy, with a strange Italian man dancing with his mobile phone in his hand and secretly snapping photos of us behind him without realising his phone has a flash. I thought I heard "500 Miles" been sung 4 times last night. And overall, I just wasn't feeling it. To top it off, when I got back to the car, there was another ticket sitting on my wipers, for a parking fine, for "failing to produce evidence of parking payment". Sigh. Survival tip in Auckland city. ALWAYS CHECK THE PARKING METERS. And blimmin' 60 kph down the hill is speeding, to them.My car's a Toyota btw.
But there's an upside to my week! =) I joined Girls On Top, a running group which does 2 hour runs every second Thursday night. Last Thursday saw me running up through knee high grass, and bush whacking through forest reserves and everything at night! It was cold, and pretty brutal, but I loved it! Yesterday, I took part in a women's tri relay with Rozelle and Erin and we came in 1st place! And I was the fastest girl on the run! woohoo! And this morning, despite last night, I got up and went for a training session with Stan the army man. And it was epic! I think if I kept this up, I'm gonna be a lean mean machine soon!

Team Configure!

I'm not sure how I'm going to spend my 2 week break, aside from finishing my 2 lab reports, 1 math assignment, and study for 2 mid term exams coming up after the break. Oh and continuing my data processing for biomechanics in the lab. and working the extra hours at the gym. But I think I shall begin with chillaxing today. El cheapo. No money to go out anymore. =\

body issues

I may not really show it, but I think sometimes I have body issues. I wouldn't be busting my butt off every now and then if I didn't. "I love running" isn't quite motivation enough to throw my trainers on and hit the road sometimes. heh.

So yesterday when I went running at the lake, one of the regulars there said to me "Wah you put on weight ar?". Darn. I absolutely abhor that comment. It's the bane of me. Because I feel like I wear the tag Sport Science all the time and I should, at the very least, look the part. I feel people like me shouldn't gain weight, simply because we know how not to.

But I guess doctors fall sick too.

Anyway. I have been putting on weight. But not fat. Muscle. And I say this with absolute confidence.

My shoulders and arms have a heavier tone in the past month or so. Probably due to push ups and burpees. It's funny though, because I don't do heaps of them. Neither do I lift weights. I guess I'm just a typical mesomorph.

But any layman (from Malaysia) who sees me will say "Wah you put on weight ar?" because when I'm donning my sleeveless running tanks I think look like a boy with boobs and a ponytail. heh.

Orang Éire

I have been given the opportunity to train the Orang Éire. That's Orang as in Malay for "Men" and Éire as in Irish for "Ireland". That's right, baby, I've been training the Gaelic Football team of Malaysia!

But before you go "You play Gaelic??? I didn't even know you play football!", you're right. I don't. I don't even know the rules to it. I'm training them on strength, agility and conditioning. In other words, I've been bootcamping their Irish arses into shape! =) (which isn't too bad a sight, to be honest).

It's been good fun! The team is a proud group consisting of Irish, Scottish, Americans, Kiwis, Jamaicans, and Aussies. I think they're parents/teachers of Garden International School in Mont Kiara. So training sessions are held in the very beautiful GIS field.

I LOVE the school. If I were a student there I'd so wanna be an athletic superstar. It's got every facility you can dream of, top notch, A grade, best quality!

But forget the field. The team has been great! I've only had 2 sessions with them, and I've had so much fun! They're a very fit bunch of people, and their determination inspires me.

They've been asking me to join them in their games, and you know me, and my phobia of balls? Yeah, got me a little worried. But after learning a little more about the game, I think I kinda like this game. Because you can do pretty much anything with it. =) Have a look at the video.

Yay!

I ran a whole 5 km today and didn't get a funky heel.

YAY!

Heal, heel!

I couldn't run my 12 km Malakoff run this morning because my heel played up at about half an hour into the race. sigh.

I really hope it gets well SOON!

A minute and a half? I'll take it.

I've been meaning to post a race report sooner but I was tied up with exams, and my cousins, nieces and nephew, uncle and aunt, and grandfather was in town too! So I decided to cook a big feast for them and have them over for dinner, which was an ultimate success! My only regret was I did not take any photos. Bummer.

Oh and then my brother went and got himself engaged, so that kinda stole my thunder for a while. :P But CONGRATS Kor & Li-Ann! Finally i'm getting myself a sister soon. =)

Anyway.

I guess I have reached a stage where I should no longer expect 20-30 minute improvements on my race times. heh.

I did the Auckland Marathon on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day with clear skies and just the right amount of clouds to make it not too hot, yet not too cold. And for a pleasant change, Erin came with me this morning because she signed up for the full marathon too! That brave, brave woman. Even I wouldn't be crazy enough to do something like that...run a marathon as my first formal race.

So yes. About 2 weeks and a little more ago, I had worn the wrong pair of shoes by mistake to work. I had wanted to do a work out after work and I wore my old trainers which have absolutely no more support in its soles anymore. But I ran on the treadmill anyway. And it started from then. I had a sore left heel and it just never got better. I still kept up my running, 2-3 times a week, which really isn't that much. But I guess it never got the chance to heal. Roughly 8 days before today, I decided to completely shelf running and do spin/swim instead.

In the morning, my heel felt slightly tight, so I stretched my entire body out properly. Then I started to run. It wasn't extremely painful, but i could feel it there. I tried to ignore it. But at about 10km it started to play up. The pain was getting quite uncomfortable and I didn't know whether I should continue to plough through or slow down. I decided on the former, telling myself to just go on as long as I can bear.

The pain persisted, and I was sure I had a funny stride by now. I got slightly worried, and told myself that I will slow down when I hit 21k. Funnily enough, when I crossed the Harbour Bridge, the pain went away! It could've been the excitement, it could've been it was (finally) warm by then, whatever it was I just realised "Hey, it didn't hurt anymore! Go forth!". =D

The rest of the journey was pretty much the same. I maintained my pace to the best I could. Once in a while I could feel a sharp pain on my heel, but for some reason I was able to mask it quite well. I slowed to take sips at the drink stations, I ate both my GU gels, and I had a jetplane (jelly bean).

The best part of the race, I guess, was the fact that because I wore devil horns (It was Halloween!) people were cheering for me! I heard "Go Devil Lady!" and "Go Ms Devil!" and even "Go Horny!". hahaha...it was pretty cool because I sometimes sit and ponder how I could get people who don't know me to cheer for me at a race (to simulate home). =)

I had targeted under 4 hours - that's what I tell people. But really I had wanted to do it under 3:55. I had people I wanted to beat. But most of all, I had really wanted to come out strong from this race, hold my chin up high and feel really good about myself. Just so that I know nothing can bring me down.

I guess that last bit helped me achieve 3 hours 55 minutes. It's roughly a minute and a half faster than last year. I was pretty pleased, eventhough I had lost to Heather by about 4 minutes, that's ok. She did her PB too, so I'm proud of her. =) I did my best, and I felt great! I even went on to cook dinner for 10 adults and 3 toddlers that night. I'm awesome. =)

Whatever you say, it's your loss.