I was all packed and ready to leave the house but started to have a migrane and eyes started watering and I felt like throwing up.

 

Did not make it to training last night.

 

Coach replied to my text message for me to get well soon and if I can, homework is a 45 minute run this weekend.

 

Can't believe I'm now up to 45 minutes of continuous running.

 

[5 Sep edit]

Entry for 25 Aug:

- Ran 40 minutes at ECP, overwhelmed by heat of the morning sun.

It was raining heavily all day and stopped when I left home to go for training.  The sky is cruel that way.

 

2 laps warm up

6 laps circuit training - i.e. run a lap and do something and run another lap, repeat

1 lap warm down

 

A lady who started with us last week commented she can't believe I only started running in July.  Believe it!  I couldn't run more than 5 minutes without stopping when I joined the running group.

 

The sky was too cloudy to see the Lunar Eclipse.  The weather was really nice and cool and I felt I could run more.  When the assistant coach called out "Last lap!", I gave it my all and sprinted.  Felt so good when I stopped and was dripping in sweat.

 

The ground was wet so we did warm up and warm down at the stands.  The concrete floor was so hard the small of my back ached when I did crunches.  As a variation, the assistant coach got us to do side plank and I could barely hold myself up.  My hips are soooo heavy.

 

Probably one of the best training sessions I've had in a long time.

The sky was fantastic last night.  The evening started out muggy and hot.  The clouds were beautiful and lined the sky.  The temperature dropped and a cool breeze started blowing.  Before long, a storm started brewing.  Throughout interval training, the weather held up.

 

I love sprinting.  I like how it feels to breathe really hard and move my body along as quickly as possible.  I like the way air moves over my skin when I run.  I like that feeling of speed and reaching the end line.  Unfortunately after the striding exercises, I had pretty much used up my strength and the next couple of laps were really tiring.  I was back to the speed of running called hobbling. The pace was so slow I might as well be walking.

 

After falling sick and not running for nearly 2 weeks, I am back to my previous form and I feel happy about it.  Earlier before training, I went to Ms Loo's place to pass her something and she said I lost weight.  It's either the running.  Or the fact that I had a flu.  Or both.

 

As we were warming down, the weather worsened.  An announcement came on for us to clear the track and field when the sound of sirens came on and suddenly there was lighting and thunder.  The sirens came on as we moved to the stands to finish warm down.

 

This is the first time it's ever rained at training and I'm glad it was towards the end.

 

This morning Ed woke me up with an sms telling me to look at how beautiful the sky was, how it was perfect weather for a run.  As I become a fellow runner, I am starting to really appreciate good weather cos it means being able to enjoy an outdoors run.

 

 

Last night I went back to training after missing 2 sessions cos I was ill and then away in Beijing for a holiday with mom.  It was the first run in 11 days.  Was pretty nervous.  The assitant coach heard how nasal I was and told me to take it easy.  When we were running, my nose was pretty blocked then runny and I breathed with mouth the entire run.  My breath was so laboured and panting, the coach told me to walk up the inclines instead of the usual striding. 

 

We ran for about 40 minutes and it was a lovely evening, cool and not too humid.  When we got back to the track, the ladies headed towards the warm down area and I said I was going to walk a lap to bring my heart rate down.  The ladies joined me on the track and they did a slow jog while I walked.

 

It was really good to run last night.  I had been feeling under the weather and was taking a very long time to recover from the flu and last night after sweating it out I finally felt better.

And it ain't with the sound of music.

 

JY suggested we run around NUS on Friday night and I nearly died.  It was hills, hills and hills.  Up hill.  Down hill. Repeat.

 

My mileage has been dropping.  I was running 7+ km in 40 mins, it dropped to 6+ km one hot late afternoon Sunday and on Friday, only about 5 km of hills was covered in 40 mins.

 

Glad I wore knee guard, I really felt every incline step inside my knee.  At 2 points along the run I stopped and JY played cheerleader to push me on to continue.

 

It didn't help JW has been running the route for the last 12 or more years and I got proper ass kicking running it for the first time.  Was feeling very demoralised so I asked JY to run in front of me so I could look at his butt for motivation.

 

When I headed for the shower, JY went to join the group for swim training.  The dude is way super fit.

 

Last night at training the group was split into 2 smaller groups.  There's the svelte ladies who are training for the upcoming Army Half Marathon.  Then there's the rest of us.

 

We did fartlek, or "speed play" while running from the track to Botanic Gardens and back.  I think we were in motion for 35 to 40 minutes.  I'm just glad I completed it and didn't stop.

 

 

Starting to really look forward to training.  Running training is a lot less demoralising than yoga.

On Monday I went for Hatha Yoga class for the first time and it started out all slow and lots of breathing exercises that I was misled into thinking it was easy.  An episode of ass kicking ensued.

 

My wrists aren't strong to start with and in Yoga, I see everyone resting their weight on palms and I don't think one is supposed to get on fists, which would be more comfortable to start with.  Downward facing dog position was a challenge, especially when we kept getting into that pose before moving into variations.

 

Sigh.  Practice hopefully makes for stronger wrists.

 

On a brighter note, the room wasn't heated like they do for Hot Yoga so I didn't feel nauseous.  I did feel slightly intimidated because I'm really not good at all in class and it's so painfully obvious.

 

 

 

My pace at 40 mins continuously was slower than last week at 35 mins jogging non-stop.  I think it's because it was pretty hot yesterday afternoon and wore me out faster.  It was equally motivational with a hunk insisting on doing my homework with me.  When it comes to running, no one lets me slack off.

 

Anyway, I'll let the numbers a month apart do the talking in terms of improvement to stamina and mileage.

 

Run data from 4 Aug '07:

A new lady joined the running group last night.  Feels good not to be the newbie anymore, haha.

 

Did 6 laps of striding around the track last night.  That's where I stride on the straight part of the track and slowly jog on the curved part to recover and charge up again.  The ladies were so nice, encouraging me while I plodded along.

 

When the coach dished out 35 minutes of homework, I asked for 40 minutes instead and the ladies started whooping.  The coach was pleasantly surprised.  Heck, I was already at 37 minutes of running with JY last Sunday, what's another 3 more minutes?

 

Next Thursday is a public holiday and my hopes for no training were dashed.  In fact, the running group is meeting at 7:30 a.m. on National Day cos they think it will be very warm at 9 a.m. so it's better to start when it's cooler.  I gulped.  I'm not kidding when I say I get my ass kicked every Tuesday and Thursday.

Last night there were only 4 of us at training with the coach.  The assistant coach wasn't feeling well and I hope she gets well soon.  The coach put us through circuit training:

 

- 1 lap around the track then lunges

- 1 lap then step-up-step-down

- 1 lap then crunches

- 1 lap then push ups

- 1 lap then leg lifts

I was a lot slower than the rest and the coach said I didn't have to do the last lap and just joined the ladies in plank.  It was the shortest training session so far but I was pretty tired out.  Usually JY is standing around waiting for me but last night I saw him running into the compound and he was surprised at how early we ended.

 

The hardest part is showing up and then everything's OK.  I was too tired to go to hot yoga in the morning.  Didn't sleep well and was feeling nauseous with a headache and didn't think I could take the hot room where I'd feel even more nauseous and dizzy. 

 

Anyway, I'm glad I went running yesterday.