Because of the bleaching, I can only have white or clear food for 24hrs cos any colour (natural or artificial) will get absorbed into the still fragile enamel. This means no tea, no coke zero. Argh!!! As a result I have a caffeine headache the entire day. No amount of painkillers have been able to get rid of it and I think I’ll have to retire to bed soon.

I have salmon and summer squash in the fridge, but they’re out till tomorrow. Lunch today was scallop pasta that I had leftover. I figured the tiny amount of pesto will be okay. Dinner was instant oatmeal with an apple diced in. Sprite zero and soda water satisfied my need for fizz but not caffeine. Can’t wait for that first cup of tea tomorrow morning.

Supposed to be an easy 3km run today, which shouldn’t take more than 20mins including getting ready. But I’m on strike. Knees still hurt and I’m feeling bleh. I’ll make it up later this week.

32.00km 3:46:02hr 7.03min/km

Most marathon training programs get up to 20miles (32km) 2-3 times and then starts tapering 2 weeks before the race. The idea is that race day adrenaline and training will push us the additional 6 miles. This way, we’re not training so hard that we risk injury or burn-out.

So today was the day for the first 20-miler. It’s only 2 more miles compared with the 18-miler last week, but I was feeling more pressure. Milestones have a habit of doing that. It’s still very hot, when I went out at 3pm the sun was beating down pretty hard. I took 2 bottles of gatorade, a cereal bar, gu and chomps with me. I went out slow. Very slow. Tried to conserve energy and stay hydrated.

Ran all the way to the boat again, a longer route than last week. Took 3 walking breaks, total around 10mins. Ended up making a mistake in estimating distances and finished over 1km from home. Yikes. It was a long and painful walk from basically the 147 Berwyn stop. My knees, calves and feet were so tight I didn’t know which leg to limp on. I’d read somewhere that walking is a good way of cooling down, and true enough, by the time I’d shuffled home the stiffness had abated enough for me to be able to climb the stairs fairly normally.

I had a tepid ice bath, part of the RICE recovery program. Sat in the bathtub, ran cold water and added the tray of ice from the freezer. I admire anyone who can climb into an ice bath. The effect lasted about a hour, tops. Still needed major foam roller and additional ice pack treatment. And hopefully a good night’s sleep tonight.

Do I feel like I can run the full marathon? Not today, not tomorrow. Not without major pain. Then again, it’s part of the training plan, there’s 6 weeks to go. Will I be able to run the extra 10k by October? I think so.

 

What I should have done: 3-5k recovery run.

What I did: biked 15 miles down to Navy Pier.

Too gorgeous a day, even though I was a little sore from yesterday. I don’t know why it suddenly occurred to me to rent a bike, now I’m sorry I didn’t start doing it earlier in the summer.

The rental place is at Foster, I run past it every time. $30 for half a day and $35 for a whole day. I did just half a day. Smooth ride all the way down the lakefront, past Montrose and Belmont Harbors. Stopped for a bit at North Ave beach, which psychologically is a “turn around” point. But this time I went further south, ended up at Navy Pier.

Left the bike at the top of the pier and walked to the biergarten, wanting a beer. Wow, I paid attention to prices along the way, and it gets more expensive towards the end of the pier. Bud light for $5 at the biergarten, but there was one place near the entrance that had them for $3.75. So I went back and just sat on a bench in the shade, people watching. Lunch was beer and an orange creamsicle ice that was oh so delicious.

Nice ride back, I returned the bike early. I’m very tempted to buy a second hand bike, but it’s probably too late in the year for it. And besides, I always have to remember I’m only here temporarily.

Had a nap in the afternoon, then a quiet rest of the day. I’m the darkest I’ve ever been, cos of all the sun this summer.

29km 3:21:43hr 6.56min/km

The problem with long runs is the amount of time and planning needed. I figured it’ll take 3.5hrs for the planned training run today. Add on getting ready and showering that’s a good 4-hr chunk of the day. I didn’t want to run in the morning cos I know I need food beforehand, so I had to work backwards to make sure I’m home before it gets dark. Lunch was a large slice of deep dish sausage pizza that was leftover from work yesterday, it’s perfect for carb-loading.

A 3pm start is not ideal, it was sunny enough to warrant sunscreen. I went out with 2 drinks bottles filled with gatorade, when the hand-held bottle emptied I filled it up with water from the water fountains. Total 1.5l on the run. Took 2 walking breaks at the hour marks, about 3mins each time, to take in gu and cereal bar.

The lake is very, very hard to beat for a great running experience. I ran all the way down to the boat, and made sure I touched it to turn around. That was 16km. HM time was 2:26, which gives me lots of hope for the upcoming Chicago Half. Some parts of the path was crowded and I was constantly passed by other runners. But I feel fine. Going slow was good for my knees and well-being, my heart rate never went above 157 and I don’t feel as tired as the 11km lame tempo run on Thursday.

Some people can think when they run, my mind just goes blank. I tried to think about the upcoming holiday with mm, work, and what I’m planning for nano this year. Couldn’t hold a thought for more than a few minutes. It’s quite exhilarating, to be able to give my brain a rest. Somewhere on the way back though, I kinda decided that I might not do another marathon after chicago, cos of the amount of time needed for training. I’m pretty sure I can go the distance, and if I continue, to improve my time. But I’m actually looking forward to the week of 11th Oct when I plan to do absolutely no running. Famous last words, I’m sure I’ll be forced to eat my hat.

According to my HRM, I spent 1570 calories. This means…STEAK and wine!!! Yay! I have this huge 14oz rib-eye I bought this morning, which I grilled together with some baby asparagus. I also opened a bottle of châteauneuf-du-pape. Nice reward, eh? Now I’m completely stuffed and wanting ice cream.

20-miler next week. That’s gonna be a big milestone.

26.08km 3:01:06hr 6.57min/km

The plan called a long run of 26km this week. That’s 16miles. Another 3 miles on top of the half marathon I did last week. Eeeek.

I guess I’m lucky I had that big ice cream last night, cos I was still full when I woke up. I had cheerios for breakfast, then got ready and set out at 8.45am. The weather was nice, overcast with a little breeze. The first 1/3 was strong, ran my normal route at the lake to the steps. The susan komen 3 day 60 miles walkers were also on the course, it was a nice inspiration that pushed me a little.

Took a 3 min walking break at 10k to eat a cereal bar, and again at 20k for a shoelace break and to eat some chomps. Ran almost to the boat at north avenue beach, 16k (10miles). I got to 21k (half marathon) at 2:26hr, beating my time last week. It’s definitely the weather. On the way back, it started drizzling, then rained pretty steadily and only stopped when I was almost home.

The end of the run was just past broadway, so i had all 4 streets to walk. My knees and calves were so tight, I was barely able to walk. Had to ice both legs pretty seriously when I got home. Still, it’s the longest distance I’ve run. All easy 10k next week, then a push to get to 32k (20miles) in 2 weeks’ time.

A substantial chunk of a lower molar came off the other day. I wasn’t even eating anything hard, but I could feel the missing part. I called the dentist yesterday and got an appointment today.

Not surprisingly, considering the amount of tooth that is gone, I have to get a crown. The dentist and her assistant were both very nice and got the mould done with the minimum of pain. Well, I did have a local. They also complimented me on being a good patient — no complaints, no screaming, not too nervous. I have to go back in 2 weeks to get the crown fitted.

My mouth was numb for hours, so I couldn’t eat anything solid. I nibbled on a few slices of ham and drank a whole bottle of muscle milk that I’d grabbed at a race. If I still felt hungry I probably would have attacked the title=”gu”>GU jar. Who says running has only limited benefits?

No, not without clothes. Without gadgets.

Easy 3k recovery run today. Not even far enough to go out to the lake, I just did the streets up and down. Didn’t use the polar, no music. I did bring the nano cos of the nike+, but I didn’t take earphones so there was no music.

It was fine, didn’t need the music. What I did miss was the voice telling me how far I’d gone, it was fiddly to take the nano out of the spibelt whenever I wanted to check distance.

Race #7. Rock and Roll Chicago half marathon. My first time moving up to the half. Very daunting cos it’s a big distance, a big race and I’m only just getting back on the training plan.

A 6.30am start meant I had to get up at 4am. I made oatmeal yesterday so it was only a matter of microwaving it, adding yogurt and blueberries. One lesson I’d learned is to have enough food before a long run / race.

The red line was completely full by Fullerton, people couldn’t get on. Must have shocked the regular early morning travellers. I dropped my (empty) gear check bag at the CARA tent and went in search of the portaloos and water. They even had bananas before the race, impressive. The start was long, but much better organised than the shamrock shuffle. We were all allocated corals according to our bib numbers, and there were at least 28 corals. Each coral was separated by a rope and they released each group in 1-2 minute intervals. Yes, it meant it was past 7am by the time I got to the start line, but it wasn’t a scrum and for a few hundred meters I was running on an empty road cos I was right in the front of the pack.

There were bands at every mile, and loads of water and cytomax stations. I took my camera and managed to get a few pics. I was slower than usual at 5k, probably cos of camera breaks, but feeling strong. The crowds along Adams and Michigan were amazing and I wished I had someone cheering for me or waiting at the finish. Sigh. I tucked in behind the 2.30 pace group at Michigan and followed them to the south shore. Got hungry at mile 8 and was glad I brought my own GU. The south shore part of the course was tougher than the loop part — fewer spectators, hardly any cover from the sun, and tiredness. People say the wall hits at 10miles, I got tired at 11 and fell behind the pace group. Picked up a bit with 1k to go.

It was fantastic to run around the last turn and into the home stretch. Had enough to finish strong. My watch time was 2:33:47hrs, chip time was 2:33:51. Missed my target of 2:30, but I’m not bothered. It’s a good time and experience. There were bananas, oranges, energy bars, ice lollies and a cold wet towel in addition to water and cytomax at the finish. Also free beer and free concert by Five for Fighting. I only stayed for the beer, didn’t fancy sitting in the sun with soaked clothing for the band.

I was so hungry and tired when I got home. I did reward myself with a big steak, and the cheesecake I bought on friday. Went to bed almost immediately after lunch and slept for an hour or so. I hadn’t registered for the chicago half in september. Now I’m seriously thinking about it.

Placing:

• overall: 12,798/18,555
• gender: 7,375/11,757
• age division: 434/778

This was the rocker balloon at 15k, the southermost point of the race where we turned back. Other pics: flickr set

The last time I increased distance (the first time I got to 10miles) I ended up with stiff leg muscles and it was awful going downstairs. After yesterday’s long run I was determined to do better, so I stuck with the tried and tested RICE method, which treats and mitigates sports injuries.

RICE stands for: rest, ice, compression, elevation. I went to bed at 10pm; I iced both knees after showering; I wore an it band strap; and I added a large square cushion to the knee cushion I already use for sleeping so everywhere below my knees are elevated and supported.

Still a little stiff going down the stairs, but otherwise I felt fine today. I’m happy at how simple things work.

10.02km 1:06:53hr 6.40min/km

I missed the first 4 weeks of training and it’s becoming very important that I get back on track. I thought about re-doing another plan, for 12 weeks, but decided against it. I’m following week 5 of the plan, pretend weeks 1-4 were completed. Supposed to be easy 3k run on Monday, I did 5k yesterday. Supposed to be 10k tempo today, and I did. Couldn’t stick to the 6.19min/km for the middle 6k though — was okay for 3k, then got tired. I’m okay about that. LR this weekend, this will be the big test for half readiness.

10k 1:04:28hr 6.27min/km

Race #6, fleet feet 5k/10k women’s festival.

I was stressed cos I need to take my parents to the airport this morning and I only had a short window to get home and shower. Plus horribly out of practice, with only 1 run in the last few weeks. I would have DNS’ed, or changed to the 5k. But I didn’t. And I’m glad I ran the 10k portion.

Because of the time pressure I drove, otherwise I would have taken the bus or even walked. One of the reasons I wanted this race is cos it’s on home turf — start at Montrose, up to Foster and back south, turning around at the totem pole. Finish line at the Montrose beach house. Yep, definitely home turf.

Both 5k and 10k started at the same time, with the 10k group breaking south once we got back to Montrose. It’s been so hot, and what I learned from last race is to keep hydrated. So I brought my own pocari and picked up water and gatorade along the way.

I wanted to break 1:05, and I did that, helped by a tiny bit of sprint at the end. But still slow, barely making the top half in my AG is disappointing. Time to build up the miles. Two weeks to train for the half. Gulp. Placing:

• overall: 756/1469
• age group: 42/92

I’m using the very simple smartcoach program at rw.com for my marathon training. You enter a recent race time, desired training intensity and long run day. It then gives you a schedule that brings you up to race day, together with predicted time.

According to the plan I should have started last week, and had a 13km run on Saturday. Yeah right. All I did was the 8k on saturday and the 5k race on sunday. Missed today’s 5k easy run too. Sigh. Not good.

5.0km 31.13min 6.28min/km

Race #5. Humana Race to Taste, as part of the Taste of Chicago event. I only registered on Tuesday when I realised I had time, and I needed a June race.

Packet pickup on the day was no problem. I pinned my number, gear checked and was out at the start line early. I knew I wasn’t going to have a fantastic race — 2+ weeks without running and the 8k I did yesterday caused some stiffness all over. I set out at a good pace, the first mile was just over 9min. But couldn’t keep it up. Fatigue, dehydration, heat and humidity got the better of me. Didn’t have any kick at the finish, I was panting by then.

The organisers set up a mobile sprinkler and it was much needed. I gobbled up a banana, half a bagel and downed lots of cups of water before I felt better. There were 3 free tickets to try out from 5 Taste stands, I had gazpacho, crab cake nugget and turkey sausage pizza. Stuck around for the raffle (didn’t win), got caught in the rain a little, was home at around10am. Placing:

• overall: 630/1358
• gender overall: 274/800
• gender age group: 16/54

5.84km 33.24min 5.43min/km

Race #4. JPMC corporate challenge. I drove in (sidebar, battery died had to get roadside assistance to jumpstart) to help transport some of the set up materials. We had a big tent, something like 200 people — participants, volunteers, family members. Nice atmosphere.

Big, big crowd at the start. There were 19,865 participants from 557 companies, no wonder. I could only get to the 9min/mile corral, knowing that people in front will be slower. How true! Took 4mins to get to the start line, luckily this year it’s B-tag chip timing, and the results are already online. It happens every race, slow people and walkers really should learn to start at the back.

Felt more comfortable than last year — experience and cooler weather helped. Time was okay, works out to be 9.30min/mile. It should be 1-2mins faster if not for the slow start and short walking break at the water station. Ah well, I’m not complaining. I had a good time. There were beer and burgers afterwards. Surprisingly, my knees feel perfectly fine. May be I should try going faster. Placing:

• gender overall: 1936/7195
• gender within team: 7/49

I haven’t weighed myself in 10 weeks. It’s not about losing weight anymore. Fitness, bf%, clothing size have taken over as health indicators. I’m deliberately not being numerical and analytic about this. I’m not in the “smash the scale” camp, so I did weigh myself for reference over the weekend.

I gained 4 pounds in 10 weeks.

I know I shouldn’t be too concerned cos I’m doing more running and my tightest pair of jeans now fit. I can’t help being disappointed though, sigh.

I’m still kinda watching what I ate, and counting calories. Come to think of it, I think the weight gain has to do with not eating enough some days. I’m not convinced it’s wholly due to starvation mode. It may be a factor, so I’ll be more careful with my diet.

Truthfully, my goals are more like 27min 5k, 1.59 half and 4.30 full marathon. At the back of my mind, sure I’d like to lose half a stone, but I’m sure as I ramp up the training, it’ll be fine.

On the livestrong forums is a thread on top 5 running songs. Till I Collapse by Eminem seems to be a favourite, but I find it too loud and hard to run to the beat. Doesn’t mean I don’t like rap, I run to 8 miles and Lose Yourself, which would make my top 10. So, top 5, in no particular order:

• mgmt — kids
• ben lee — afterlife
• killers — read my mind (or human, I can’t decide)
• uh huh her — common reaction
• muse — uprising

Honourable mentions: chris rea — auberge, lindsey buckingham — did you miss me, lady gaga — poker face, fort minor — where’d you go (or remember the name).

One of the reasons I don’t like running in a group is that they occupy the whole pavement and don’t allow enough space for other people. Hog the water fountains too. I was doing a nice 8k and this group (fleet feet? cara?) was having a briefing in a big circle and, yes, spread themselves out on the entire corner. I ran smack in the middle of their circle, I didn’t care.

Related, dogs and dog owners need to disappear off the face of the earth. They are the pits in terms of occupying useless space. Hate, hate, hate.

13.53km 1:31:01hr 6.43min/km

That’s just over 8 miles. Lots of people out at the lake, including many who are starting their marathon training, cos they were showing off their shirt from last year.

Ran into bark in the park at Montrose. By that time it was too late to turn back or find another route. People and their dogs doing a 5k. Dogs everywhere. Fucking dogs. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Apart from that the run was pretty comfortable. And, looking at the nike+, very steady pace throughout. Had a gel at around the 60min mark, though I didn’t really need it. It was a hammer gel I got last week, wanted to try out the flavour. I need to find the locations of water fountains south of Montrose.

On the one extreme, a recent poster in a forum I read sometimes was saying how they were proud to be size 20+. I had to look it up, US size 20 = UK size 24.

On the other hand, people (mainly newbie) join fitness forums and says things like they don’t want to do weight training because they don’t want to become bulky…all they want to do is tone their muscles.

[Insert screaming and face plant here.]

Then on running forums there’s the feeling that, yeah okay, do weights but runners run. I think I’m in danger of falling into this camp of thinking, so I’m gonna make sure I continue to do some weight training.

Talk of weight training always bring up the bulking up vs toning crap. It’s impossible to accidentally bulk up, like you wake up one morning and hey presto, muscles!! I’ve been doing weights for a year and there is a tiny bit of definition, that’s it. Perhaps the best article I’ve read on the subject comes from Leigh Peele who wisely advocates training for the body type that best suit us because,

the only people that look like that lift or train aggressively are those who lift and train aggressively

What’s this got to do with the size 20+ person? I think it’s admirable that a person is proud of their body shape. But potentially ignoring the fact that size 20+ is dangerously unhealthy to the extent of not doing anything about it? Worries me. I’m still trying to unwind 15, 20 years of not eating, not exercising and I was by no means fat. We all have to take responsibility for our health.

Sigh. I guess it’s inevitable that I’d get pain somewhere in my body due to running. It’s also likely that it’d be my knees. Surprising that it’s the left and not the previously injured right. It’s stiff either side of the kneecap, and there was a point during today’s run, at 12km, that it threatened to give out. Felt a lot like when I had the ski accident and couldn’t put any weight on my leg. There’s no swelling, which suggests to me that’s it’s IT band. What can I do about it:

Patience. This one takes a while. Give yourself plenty of rest, reduce your miles and ice frequently. You can keep running, but cut your run short as soon as you begin to feel any pain. Cut way back on hill work, and be sure to run on even surfaces.

Hmm. I’m building base. This week I’ll hit 33km/20miles. That’s peanuts. I have to build up to 60-70km (over 40miles) to properly prepare for the marathon. And I’ve got the Ravenswood 5k on Sunday. I still haven’t gone a full 10miles in one run. Patience I have very little.

This is a little worrying. I’m not hitting my calorie goals. I already have a low calorie target (1288 calories) because of my height, weight and age. The problem with the last few days is that I’ve done more running than usual, and I’ve been finishing up the cauliflower cheese and pea & ham soup I made over the weekend. Both are filling and nutritious, but aren’t heavy hitters in terms of calories. I have strawberries & yogurt or apple & peanut butter after dinner and I find myself at 9pm already full but needing to eat more. I’ll take the decision not to stuff myself.

Here’s the plan. On big running days I should plan to eat more, like have a decent breakfast and some snacks during the day. I don’t want to get into starvation mode, then I’ll never get rid of the stupid tummy fat.

6.01km 38.59min 6.29min/km

I got promoted to blue level on the nike+ site, meaning I reached 1000km. About 95% of my runs were successfully tracked so it’s a good representation.

Took 17 months. Next level is purple at 2500km. I’m hoping I get the 1500km needed in less than that time.

5.01km 31.22min 6.15min/km

Probably the best 5k time I’ve had for a while. I guess the 13k worked. I registered for the Ravenswood at the end. Soft target is to break 30mins.

13.01km 1:29:28hr 6.52min

That’s 8.08 miles at 11min/mile. Not fast by any stretch of imagination but the idea today wasn’t fast but distance. This is the longest distance I’ve ever run. Ran all the way to Montrose beach then up to the roundabout and back. I wanted to see if I can do 8 miles comfortably and then think about which race to enter in April: CARA lakefront 10mile, Wrigley 5k or Ravenswood 5k. What I learned today:

• I’m fine with the distance
• running against the wind is hard
• technical shirts ftw
• take energy gel at around the 1hr mark
• bring water

As for which race, I’ll probably stick with the Ravenswood. Build endurance slowly, don’t get too ambitious.

This is the title of a thread on the runner’s world forum.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Associated Press

FREDERICK, Md. — A driver who fatally struck a jogger from Zelienople who was running in the road near Emmitsburg has been fined $500 under a plea agreement.

Twenty-nine-year-old Joshua Cool pleaded guilty Monday in Frederick to failing to exercise care to avoid a pedestrian. In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of negligent driving and other offenses.

Mr. Cool was charged in the death last April of 22-year-old Elizabeth DiNunzio. She was a Spanish major at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

Defense attorney Kate English says her client was devastated by the accident.

Mr. Cool’s parents were fined $200 each earlier this month for letting their son drive the uninsured pickup truck that hit DiNunzio.

I don’t know the circumstances of this case. On the thread there are opposing thoughts — that the punishment was not severe enough vs it was an accident. There’s some information that suggest to me that the driver did indeed get away with it. Although he wasn’t drunk or anything like that, he was driving a truck that he wasn’t covered in the insurance. In fact, he was specifically excluded in the policy. It also matters to me whether he showed remorse, and what, if anything, he will do to show he has learned his lesson. From some of the comments, it seems that he hasn’t. So, yes, I’m going to condemn this person and wish that he suffers from the thought of having killed an innocent 22-year old all his life.

In memory of Ms DiNunzio, there’s going to be a 5k run /1 mile walk at Zelienople PA on 24 April. If it didn’t take 8 hours to drive there, I’d go there in a minute. I started my running career on the road. Now I run by the lake, but I have to run on the street and across a couple of main roads to get there. Traffic is thick. Cars come out of alleys and make turns with very little regard for pedestrians. I’m ramping up this year, this is important to me.

My second race this year — shamrock shuffle 8k

There was still a little snow on the ground when I left, and it was chilly windy. I get to experience the first advantage to being a cara member — gear check at the congress plaza hotel. Plus waiting inside out of the cold. It was cold to be standing out there waiting for the start. Not having participated before, I was in the open corral. It took me over 28mins to get to the start line after the gun. To give some perspective, the winner came in at 23-ish mins, which means he was back when the rest of us were still standing around at the start.

There were a good 25,000 runners. I tucked in behind the crowd at an easy pace. I got passed, but I managed to pass quite a few too. It was very nice to run through the city streets and not have to stop at traffic lights. I see what people mean about the finish at the chicago marathon — the last incline into grant park sapped energy. I must make a note to have some in reserve.

Finished in 55.23mins at 6.28min/km. Big crowd at the end too, gotta be aware of that for the marathon. Got my backpack from the hotel and went back to the park for after-race beer. I can’t remember who asked me, and was surprised that there is a fee for races. It’s for the organisation, volunteers, swag and of course the beer.

ETA: official results are in. I managed 53.50min, better than my own time. Overall 18204/25559. There’s no age category, gender classification 8640/14045.

5.03km 33.53min 6.44min/km

The sun was out when I drove home mid-afternoon. It was very pleasant and I knew I had no excuse. I must have had a brain freeze cos I started making beef stew, and suddenly realised it needs to be cooked for 3 hrs.

I took the risk. Once it was in the oven and stabilised, I quickly got ready to go running outside. Of course by that time clouds have moved in, but I was still in sunny mode. Ran outside in just a t-shirt. I was cold, especially my hands weren’t happy being attacked by the wind. Warmed up at 2k, and the rest was at usual pace.

6.26km 41.38min 6.39min/km

The sun was out today, about time I went for a run. It has been a while. My legs felt heavy and sore, so the time is only average. Time to start training.

Standchart results are in. As expected my time was 1:14:59. Within my class I came in 132/243. Overall for the 10k challenge I was 3914/5144. The winner of my class completed in 38.37, very impressive. Like I said, time to start training. I’m now confirmed for the rock and roll half in August.

I set the alarm for 4.15am but I was up before then. Excitement. I didn’t wake mm up, got all my running gear and was out of the door at around 4.40am.

It’s marathon day. Okay, I’m only on the 10k challenge, may be next year I’ll do the half. It was dark when I started, I stupidly signed up for the first race at 5.15am. In hindsight, it turned out to be a good decision. 91% humidity made for terrible running conditions. I had my camera with me, so I took my time. I’d wanted to try to break 1hr, and in those conditions I didn’t even try. I think my time was around 1:15, it doesn’t matter.

The later races were still going on when I got back to mm’s. Because of the traffic, she didn’t make it to mass, and we stole an hour or so more together time. I tried hard not to cry when we said goodbye. We’ve spent a lot of time in different countries throughout our relationship, it’s nothing new. I just don’t know what to do with our future.

Met parents, sis and niece for lunch. While parents went off to do their own things, I went ice skating with sis and niece. I was pretty out of practice, there were too many kids, I was done after half an hour. Tired from the running anyway.

I really didn’t want to go out for dinner, so home food it was. Thanks, Mum.

The weather was nice so I went skiing again. I know wilmot well now. Got there just before noon, got my boots and skis and was on the slopes in no time. Systematically worked my way left to right, alternating between State Line and Fanny Hill (blue and black) before lunch and then Exhibition and Snow Bowl after lunch. I think Snow Bowl is the most difficult, it gets fast and steep in places.

Begun to get tired by 3pm. This time I feel my arms and legs getting a good workout, I was working harder today, going faster and trying very hard to stick to parallel. Now I’m sad cos I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to go again this season. :(

Registration opened on Monday but it took me until today to summon up enough courage to register. I hesitated because originally my plan was to move up to the half this year, and not the full. But I thought about it, what’s the worst case scenario? I forfeit the $135 fee. No big deal.

Reasons for doing it:

• a worthwhile goal, personal milestone kind of thing
• it takes place on 10.10.10 — a date to remember
• I live here, people come from all over the world to participate, I don’t have to worry about hotels and stuff
• (related) I know most of the course, it will help

Reasons for not doing it:

• none, aside from not enough training —> unable to finish

Yes, it’s crowded, and some runners complain of being hindered by slower runners. I don’t think I’ll have that problem. It’s also a nice course in terms of elevation. On the runner’s world forum there was a discussion about elevation profile and someone summed it up nicely:

The only marathon flatter than Chicago would be run on a treadmill

Come to think of it, that’s true. I haven’t even noticed, running around here and out to the lake, it’s completely flat. One more reason to run this one.

Haven’t thought about training. I’ll probably follow the Higdon 18-week program, with some adjustments. What I do plan on is one race a month. I’m already registered for:

• 28 Feb — standchart 10k
• 21 Mar — shamrock shuffle 8k
• 29 May — soldier field 10 mile

April will either be another 10-miler, or an easy 5k like the ravenswood or wrigley. Corporate challenge in May is 2 days before the soldier field, so it will be a busy week. A few options in June and July, then the rock and roll half marathon in August.

It’s gonna be a BIG running year.

My last 5 runs have all been 5k at the treadmill. The times have been oddly consistent:

• 28:12min
• 28:56min
• 28:56min
• 28:37min
• 28:33min

Now if I can a) do the same outside and b) translate that to a sub-60min 10k.

omg, I’m turning into a health nut or at least a health nut wannabe. I started eating oatmeal! I mean, for most of my adult life I only had 2-3 cups of tea for breakfast. The past year or so I started to have cereal, but more often than not I’m not eating anything. I’ve always equated oatmeal with breakfast porridge, ie stodgy gummy tasteless stuff that only appeal to militant vegetarian yoga health fanatics.

Then last week I got some instant oatmeal with apple and found that it tasted nice and was great at staving off my morning hunger. Today I cooked up a pot of steel cut oats (30mins of simmering and stirring), mixed in a small pot of greek yogurt with honey, and finally a handful of blueberries. It was rather good and filling. I deliberately cooked 5 portions, and divided it up into small containers so I can reheat at work.

Crikey. What next? Meditation, chanting? I hope I don’t start talking about supplements and ginko jujube whatever. I take 1 multi-vitamin tablet and 1 vitamin C drink a day if I remember, that’s it.

I woke up to a brilliant sunny morning. Perfect for skiing. It was so nice out that I didn’t go to four lakes, instead I ventured a little further to wilmot mountain in wisconsin. I figured it’d be a nice drive, and I can go to four lakes next time I want to ski and the weather (and therefore drive) isn’t as nice.

The weather report there actually showed fog when I left. It’s under 1.5hrs drive, and I got there at around 1pm just as the sun came out. It turned out to be a glorious afternoon and I got in plenty of skiing.

Yes, yes, I know. Compared with everywhere I’d skied, this is a tiny hill with artificial snow. But it was still fun. To get back to pre-accident proficiency I’d have to go back to live in Switzerland, or move to a place with real mountains, and that isn’t going to happen soon. Anyway, back to wilmot. It’s very well organised, with something like 10 chairlifts going up various slopes. The runs are mostly greens and blues, with some blacks — well, the blacks are easy reds IMO. I tried almost all of them, except the baby slopes, the ones at the far side and the mogul run.

Of course I picked one of the busiest weekends of the year to go, so there was a queue for rental and everything else. The queues for the lifts were manageable — there are so many, and they are pretty close together that it’s less than 5 mins to slide to the next one if the queue is too long.

I pretty much skied non-stop for 2-2.5hrs, taking a small break to get a drink from the car. Another thing — the carpark is right next to the mountain, well convenient. By 4pm I was getting tired, the sun had gone and the fog started to roll back in. The place opens till 11pm for night skiing, but I was done for the day. Left at 5pm and was home, showered and eating dinner by 7pm.

This is the house this morning. I’d wanted to take a picture with the snow for the last 3 days, but I leave too early and come back too late for there to be any decent light. It doesn’t look too bad, because people have been diligently shovelling.

It was also a nice sunny day, so I took the chance to run outside. It was too cold for the ice to be slippery, and most of the pavement was clear. The only bit was at the end of Foster before reaching the lake that was still full of snow. Had to walk through that. I was slower and more careful, so 6.53min/km is not a good pace.

Had to run inside cos it’s snowing like crazy today. While I was on the treadmill I got to thinking about how my exercise routine / goals / experience would have been different if I had taken the elliptical and gym machine route instead of running.

Several years ago when I was going through a “must exercise” phase I got on an elliptical machine and continued for a few months. The elliptical is easier to use for beginners, and supposedly not as tough on the knees. So when I started this healthy thing again, I tried the elliptical again. Yes, it was easy to use, and I could have continued.

Then I got the nike+. The thing about me is, I love the discipline of having to keep track of data and setting goals. I could have kept track of elliptical workouts on a spreadsheet, but the beauty of the nike+ was the analysis, the website and that I didn’t have to do anything. Problem is, it doesn’t work on an elliptical, or recumbent bike, or anything apart from running. So that was it.

Plus I was travelling quite a lot then and sometimes I don’t make it to a gym. Running was flexible. I didn’t have to make an effort to travel to a gym if I were at home, and of course no fees. In HK I could run at all hours, and it’d be safe. (Not in Chicago though.) Then when I got to PT, there were like 20 treadmills vs 3 ellipticals. So that was it.

The really fun thing about running are the races I’ve been able to participate. I mean, who’s heard of elliptical competitions?

something arrived in my mail today that I haven’t seen for long time — a print magazine. runner’s world to be precise. One of the perks of joining cara I suppose. It’s an interesting magazine, a few good articles like the one about running safely on the road, which is especially relevant in the winter when it gets dark too early. Runner vs vehicle, runner loses almost 100% of the time.

There’s also race calendars, a survey on the best marathons (most fun = NYC; best value = Fargo, ND; best destination = Big Sur, CA) and in general lots of encouragement. I visit the rw forum occasionally, but they seem too elitist and hardcore for me. It’ll be a change, to have a magazine to read in bed.

I bought wii fit plus during black friday even though it wasn’t on sale. At the time, I was debating between this wii fit, which I’d always wanted, and the new Tony Hawk skateboarding game.

The first time I started it up, the program did some body measurements — height, weight, bmi, balance. Then there are some basic exercises — yoga, strength training, cardio, which are pretty decent. I tried the balance training ones — skiing, heading a football etc and not only did I suck, it told me I was unbalanced. Heehee.

I did better at the advanced games, and these are fun! Segway, biking, martial arts, flying — all involve some form of balance, cardio or at the very least, moving the body. They really did great on the games.

Its selling point is that it’s a fitness program. Hmm. I’m on the fence on this one. I know people have claimed to have lost weight on wii tennis, I’m just not sure it’s an effective weight loss program. It will benefit people who aren’t active normally. For me, it’s a fun game. It’s not gonna replace running or strength training.

Santa Shuffle results are in. I was crap. 451 out of 803 overall, 17 out of 40 in my division. Blah.

So anyway, I did a summary of results of all my races this year. Total 7 races (strictly speaking the human race doesn’t count so it’s 6). I did pretty okay in all of them. The time for the beachathlon was slower cos of all the obstacles we ran through. It seems like generally I come in the middle of the field overall and within my division (gender and age based).

I really must beat that pesky 6min/km barrier next year.

My last race of 2009, the santa shuffle 5k at Lincoln Park this morning. It was cold, luckily sunny. All racers were given a hat, beard and santa t-shirt so there were lots of red around. Some others dressed more elaborately in santa costumes, and some were in flannel pajamas — they looked warm.

The race and course itself wasn’t that great. The gear check was one corner of one table with 2 pretty inexperienced people, good thing I dropped my backpack early, some people didn’t make gear check and had to carry their stuff on the race.

The course was a loop up to the zoo then back. The highest number I saw as 1100-something so I’m thinking around 1200 people. On the narrow paths of the park, initially on the pavement along the road then there was one stretch where people running up and down were sharing the same path. Any more runners and it would have been very crowded.

My nike plus picked today to run out of battery, sigh. I had to rely on the official clock, which told me I finished at 31.29mins, the fastest I’ve been recently. Some people were saying the course was over 5k, I dunno.

Afterwards there was a breakfast buffet and beer at a pub over at Webster. It was over 1 mile and I walked over. Usually after runs we get bananas and energy bars so a hot breakfast (with Bud Light) was welcome. They had bacon, sausage, egg, bagels, french toast, pancake, something with gravy (American gravy, ie white sauce) and an egg filled deep fried thing that was actually spicy and really nice. Well worth the mile walk. There were a lot of runners and the queue for the food was long, I was lucky I got in line early and was within the first 20 people. I wonder how it was at the end, whether they had enough food.

Because of all the eating over the Thanksgiving holiday, I knew i had to do some serious running for the remainder of the weekend. The weather had been good, and then today when I woke up…it was raining and i heard rumbles of thunder. Sigh.

I did go out after lunch, and now with my new long-sleeved running shirt on top, and running gloves. I ran south along the lake, past Montrose beach. It was pretty deserted, I saw fewer than 10 other runners. At first it was fine, and then after I turned around it started to get very, very, very windy. The worst was that I was running against the wind, which slowed me down a lot. And then it started drizzling. Sigh. I was glad of my dryfit shirt and my hat.

So now I have to be prepared for winter running and figure out how to do it when it starts snowing. There’s a lot of good clothing and tips out there:

• attire — layers, shell, hat, gloves, probably have to wear long pants soon — remember to wear a technical shirt underneath and not cotton
• visibility — I’m thinking of getting some reflective strips for extra visibility, the neighborhood street lamps aren’t terribly bright
• safety — I used to run at all hours, like 11.30pm, midnight. Not anymore in Chicago cos it’s unsafe, and I’d never go out to the lake in the dark. I already carry my ICE card in my ipod pouch, I’m gonna get a road ID soon

Jove posted in her fb status yesterday about how many calories were in a vanilla shake with whipped cream and sprinkles. I jokingly replied “what’s a calorie?” Truth is, not a single day passes without me thinking about calories. To recap, I started 13 months ago and got to where I am now by being very disciplined about my eating and going running. There’s thousands of articles out there about weight loss, diet, exercise. To me, it’s simple mathematics: IF (calories in > calories out) THEN (all is good) ELSE (try harder).

Ricky, Car, mm and other people was worried that I was getting too thin. Hmm. Recently, though, I feel like I’m filling out my clothes again. The problem is: a) I’ve stopped weighing myself and b) I’ve slowed down on strength training so it can’t be muscles building up. I think I’m putting on fat again. Sigh.

It’s likely to be diet, both what I’m eating and what I’m not. I know I’ve gotten too addicted to peanut butter, and too many snacks like chocolate(!!!). Calorie-wise though, I’m having a hard time hitting my target, look at the chart of the last 30 days, I only hit the goal (yellow area) like 5 days so it’s actually a combination of me becoming skinny fat and not eating enough.

So, what’s the plan? Winter is coming, so I’ll have to figure a way to acclimatise to running outside. Remember, I’ve not lived in such a cold city before. Not even Zurich. It’s also holiday season, and I’m prone to eating too much. I think I need to find the discipline again:

• run inside, use the gym at work
• do more weights!!! even if nrolw is too much, just do 50 crunches and some bench presses
• fewer snacks, or switch to healthier snacks
• hit the calorie goal target

That said, I have to start tomorrow. It’s already 9.30pm, there is no way I can eat another 495 calories tonight.

Woke up at 6am (argh, on a sunday) to do the hot chocolate 5k. Didn’t get a fantastic start — the stupid bus ran the stop, and the other passengers and I were like “the hell?” As I was checking the bus schedules, the red line pulled up so I had to sprint up to the platform. Pulled my thigh a little, and was uncomfortable leading up to the start of the race.

It turned out to be a beautiful morning, perfect for running. I kept the running jacket on, thought I got hot and should have checked it. Finished in just over 31mins.

Afterwards, the food was chocolate fondue. It was a small plate of: 1 apple slice, half a banana, 1 marshmallow and a couple of biscuits. Pretty puny. There was also a small cup of hot chocolate. Still, better than the banana and cereal bar combinations we get at other races. There was also a Nike+ tent, and by showing the run on the ipod, we were eligible for a prize draw. I got an armband, which is timely cos my existing one is showing signs of old age and use.

Home and showered by 10am. Dealt with fb game stuff and the rest of the day will be nano.

The first run I logged in my nike+, which to all intents and purposes was the beginning of my running career, was on 29 October 2008. So what have I achieved in 1 year:

• 752.07km | 467.31miles
• 83 hours 32 mins
• reduced speed from over 8min/km to around 6.40min/km
• ran in: JPMC corporate challenge, elvis is alive, beachathlon, aids run/walk so far — hot chocolate 15/5 and santa shuffle left this year
• lost 35 pounds, then stopped weighing myself

I have enough goals and tasks already, but generally in the next year I want to try to run one race a month, run faster and move up to half marathon. Achievable? I think so.

I went back to nrolw training today, starting on stage 2. I think I’ll do both workouts with smaller weights this week but not count officially to get back to the routine. Stage 2 has more variety, and some of the exercises look complex. But what I found difficult were the ones I had to balance on one leg — dumbbell 1 point row and rear leg elevated split squat. Workout B looks long, and has elaborate sounding exercises like wide grip deadlift from box and dumbbell prone cuban snatch. It also has 15mins of intervals, so it’ll take longer to complete. Later this week.

Even though I signed up for the nike human race that is supposed to happen today, I seriously doubted that I’d be able to do it. Today was Gram’s funeral and I’ve been up since 6am, driving down to the house, then we were at the funeral home, church, cemetery and the luncheon. It was a sad day for the loss of such a wonderful person, and yet a day where family and friends gathered together.

I got home just after 6pm, and the run was tickling at the back of my mind. The other concern was of course that I’m sick and the only exercise I’d done in the past 3 weeks was the one run at Ptown.

I thought to myself, no harm trying. If I get to tired, I can stop before 10k. I didn’t run to the lake, just made the rounds up and down the neighbourhood streets. And no, I didn’t get tired. I finished in a fairly normal time of 1hr 6 mins.

I woke up way too early cos I was nervous about this morning’s demo 2. It’s at our office and I had to make sure everything was set up right — breakfast ordered, DSL turned on through helpdesk, webex invitation sent, the vendors know where to go, our people know where to go. Got to the office at 7.45am. The vendor got in at 7.50am! First thing I said to him, “early much?”

This is a vastly different product, much more web 2.0 and startup like. The people weren’t in suits, they were friendly and there is a feeling of entrepreneurship when interacting with them. I was impressed by the product.

Managed to leave at 3.30pm and drove down to the wake. It was nice, lots of family and friends. There’s a plumbing problem at the house so I decided to come home instead of spending the night. Early start tomorrow.

I’m still feeling not 100% and pretty tired. I’m coughing up some stuff so it’s less painful and dry. Still staying away from that cough medicine.

First product demo today, so I couldn’t stay home. Of all the weeks to be sick, this is the worst week ever. I dare not take the cough medicine cos of drowsiness, but the inhaler seems to be working a little.

We were invited to our vendor’s office at Sears Tower for the demo, only a 5 min walk. When we walked in, we were greeted by a room full of suits! Scary. The demo was as expected, that’s what you get from the industry leader.

Bought a flower basket and drove down to Gram’s wake. The minute I walked in I knew I’d be told off, cos I’d been told to stay home and rest. But in all honesty, most people would have made the effort. It was a horrid drive down in heavy traffic and even more horrid drive home in the torrential rain. But I made it.

I’ve never felt this horrible. I had tons to do at work, so I couldn’t stay home. Drove in. Then straight to meetings. I was totally burning up, my eyeballs, throat, head, nose were all heating up. It was a struggle not to fall asleep.

So finished the last meeting at noon, then went directly to the clinic. A fairly long wait later and the doc said, “you have the flu, but then you knew that already.” Nice doc. I went back to the office, told everyone I was leaving then went home. The doc gave me Zanamvir, an anti-viral medicine via inhaler and a very very strong cough syrup. I took the syrup and was out pretty quickly. Napped till around 7.30pm, showered, watched Top Chef, and it’s time to go to bed.

Seems like a lot of people who were at Ptown got this cape cod crud, as someone called it. What a takeaway present.

I used to depend on panadol almost exclusively. When I was just visiting the US, I used to bring my own because I couldn’t find it at the drugstores. It’s only a couple of years ago that I sussed out that it’s tylenol.



For some reason, since I moved here I switched to ibuprofen. It has an interesting and simple synthesis story. I have a big jar of advil at home and a small bottle of motrin in my backpack. And it’s only earlier this year that I discovered that mm is allergic to it. So I need to keep some panadol in my pocket.

I was in desperate need of cough medicine today, my throat felt dry and painful, halfway down my chest actually. So I got a combo pack of dayquil and nyquil. Not quite feeling the effects yet, let’s see how the nyquil does tonight.

The dilemma tomorrow: drive to work or not? I don’t want to be the person on the train with the hacking cough. But there’s clearly a drowsiness risk. Hmm, I’ll have to see when I wake up. There is a departmental event in the evening, the more reason to drive.

I need to pick up the health routine again. One week of visitors and constant eating out, followed by a second week of holiday, totally screwed up my normal healthy eating / exercise routine. Only 1 run the whole fortnight — argh!!!

Should start back today, but feeling sick. Okay, there’s a big bit of laziness and lack of momentum in the mix too. But no more. Need discipline.

I got up really early, like 6.30am, for the AIDS 5k run at Grant Park. I was apparently one of the top 300 individual fundraisers so I got invited for a VIP breakfast before the race. The promise of egg soufflé, country bacon, oatmeal and juice was too good to pass up. At the end, I managed to raise almost $1400, with my family, mm and my fantastic colleagues pitching in. Company match helped the cause too.

It’d been raining so the ground was pretty wet and it was generally cold. I waited and waited till I could take my sweatshirt and track pants off and spent the 15mins before the race walking around in a t-shirt and shorts, shivering a bit.

I ended up pretty near the starting line. When the horn sounded I ran off with the others, only to be hindered by slow runners and a whole bunch of AIDSmarathoners who took up the whole pavement while doing marathon pace! I know they’re all there for a good cause but they really shouldn’t have blocked the pavement like that. I know the reason I didn’t get a smooth start was because of them, I was panting and my heart was pounding the first 500m.

The great thing about this race was that along the route there were entertainers and volunteers cheering us on. It gave a huge boost. I finished just under 31mins, grrrr I hate going “if only” but this time…if only I had a smooth start I could have beaten 30mins. Sigh.

One thing about these events, and it’s my 4th race this year already, is that they’re so well organised. It’s a testament to the volunteers. There were lots of freebies from the booths, promotional material and food — water, yogurt, banana, cereal bars, isotonic drinks, and this race the official “foodstuff” was a hotdog. Every time I come away from the race with my backpack stuffed full of goodies.

One more race in November. Then it’s winter. More races next year; and I’m thinking of moving up to 10k.

We had flu shots at work today, the building offered them for $30, which the company paid for. I had flu shots every year for a few years now, can’t say I’m completely immune to getting a virus or flu, but in my mind it’s been helpful. It’s always mitigation rather than reaction. A couple of my colleagues hadn’t had flu shots before and were nervous so we went together as a group.

Finished 7/8 tasks, the first time I’ve not achieved 100% completion.

exercise
• run a full 10k // done
• nrolw complete stage 1 // done
• deadlift half my body weight // done
• full pushup // did that one nrolw workout

food
• vegetarian day x4 // done
• quinoa recipe x1 // done

other
• sort gcls videos // sigh, I’m not sure when I’ll get round to this
• 6-word novels x20 // done

Talking about running, I registered for the nike 10k human race:

the Human Race 2009 is a virtual event - no need to get to a venue - you can run your 10K any where, any time on race day

I’d just started running last year and didn’t learn about this event till afterwards. It’s a self-participation event. Registering on the nike site means the run is tracked and recorded, which I do anyway with my Nike+. I’ve been stuck at 5k for a few months, this will be perfect. Plus this will bring my total race participation to 6 this year, I’m really pleased.

It was a perfect day for running along the lake. There were around 500 people at the beachathlon. The run was 4 miles plus 5 obstacles — pretty simple ones like people kicking giant beach balls at us, life preservers as “tires”. At the end there was the option of a normal land finish or running into the lake. I really wanted to do the water finish, but with the Nike+ in my shoe, my ipod, and carrying my small camera that was too many electronics to risk.



There were hula dancers, and a few runners in costumes. The winners of the costume competition were a tiki lady and a landshark — landshark being the sponsor of the race. I was on my way home by noon, stopping at the huge Lincoln Park farmer’s market on the way home.

Yep, perfect morning for running. I wasn’t even bothered with my time. It was officially tagged anyway, but with the obstacles and the slowness of running on sand, I think I ended up at the 40min mark.

I moved up 10 pounds for the s1-7 nrolw workouts, I’m at 60 for squats now. I know I can do more, possibly up to 1 rep body weight. The problem is, I can’t get the barbell up to the starting position behind my neck sitting on my shoulders. Towards the end of 50, I managed to clean the bar up above my head and lower it. But now at 60 it was difficult. I ended up using 2 chairs and crawling underneath. This won’t work for heavier weights I think.

So, I probably need to start looking at getting a squat rack.

I picked up the gear for the next 2 races — the beachathlon this saturday and the AIDS run walk in October.

As soon as I saw the beachathlon event, I signed up. It seems so much fun:

a 4 mile running race set along the downtown lakefront running path and incorporates 5 fun filled beach obstacles throughout North Avenue Beach, Oak Street Beach and Ohio Beach

Participants will receive a lei at the finish line, plus a free beer. There will also be pina coladas and margaritas. Definitely a good reason to participate.

The AIDS 5k Run & Walk is a big charity event, participants are encouraged to get sponsors for their run. They give us a nice link so people can donate by credit card; and there are gifts for participants reaching certain amounts. So far, between my colleagues and family, I’m almost at my target of $1000. I did try posting the link on fb, but no one responded. *shrug*

5.01km 33.17min 6.37min/km.

You just know. Within the first paragraph/verse/bite, it’s already enough to tell if the book/song/meal is going to be good or bad.

Today was one of those days. I took a couple of steps, and just knew that the run wouldn’t be good. I couldn’t pick up the pace at all, my knees and legs and whole body felt sluggish. The last half km was quite a struggle, and I was only doing my normal 5k. Sigh.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m probably never going to break 6min/km. I’ve done it before, but recently it’s just not working out. It’s a bit like my weight, when I dropped below 120, I was to the point that I looked sick. Then I came back up to 122, and those 2 pounds made a big difference — I can maintain, and I don’t take on the emancipated vampire look. I guess each body has its “happy” place, regardless of 5k pace or weight. It’s okay, I shouldn’t be surprised, I’m always the one that lands on the wrong side of the milestone — coming 151st in the public exam missing out on the scholarship; the top 2(ii); getting 690 on my GMAT…I’m resigned to it. No use making a big deal.

I’ve set up my home gym for a couple of weeks now, and I’m pretty happy with it. Initially the debate was: weights or machine, like a bowflex. Weights won out, cos I’m used to using free weights. The next question was what type of weights. Having a full set like in a gym wasn’t feasible, so it was an easy decision to look at adjustable weights.

The market leaders seem to be bowflex selectech and powerblocks. I tried out the bowflex at sears, and found them quick large. The cage design of the powerblocks is a bit weird.

And then I read about ironmaster quick lock dumbbells, and the reviews were good — solid and part of a system. The changing isn’t as fast as the others, it isn’t a huge criteria for me anyway. So i went ahead and ordered the set, which came with a rack. To complete the system, I also got an ez-curl bar and the matching bench. The whole shipment came in 6 very large boxes.

The other item for my home gym is a balance ball. I have a regular one and a mat that I got at Target. I added a bosu ballast ball after using one in London. The filling inside stabilises the ball and that’s important to prevent slippage. Even though I have gym mats I’m on the normal floor when I’m using the balance balls.

I’ve started with NROL, and these came just in time. I feel like I’m lifting proper weights with the ironmasters, albeit I’m still at the 50 pound stage. The original balance ball is good for prone jackknife exercises and the ballast ball good for crunches. I don’t have a step, and have been using the step ladder for stepups, the only hack I’m using.

exercise
• run 50km // 27.05km
• 5k race in under 36mins // 33mins
• weights x8 // 2 of 8
• 1000 squats, lunges, abs // 400

food
• vegetarian day x4 // 2 days
• meet calorie goals 24 days // 11 days

other
• organise story outlines // procrastinating
• get driver’s licence // done

video link: http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/district-9/trailer

I opened up the NYT today and immediately was drawn to the review of a new film produced by Peter Jackson. District 9 is an alien film with a difference. Yes, there are ugly, dripping aliens who can’t speak Earth. They look dangerous. But it’s not your regular sci-fi film. It’s DEEP and looks amazing and the more poignant because it’s from South Africa. The LA Times says,

In a good summer, there’s usually a movie that will come out of nowhere and completely wow us. This is a good summer, and that movie is District 9.

I don’t know how I can do it, but I need to find the means to go see this one.

• nike+ = 319
• polar = 293
• tdp = 260

Considering I track at tdp, the more conservative number is probably an advantage. So now when I go running, I take: ipod nano, nike+, HRM strap, watch, keys, insurance card/ICE card, armband. More and more stuff.

video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj0eox45Dv4

I still haven’t started New Rules of Lifting. Two reasons: 1) need to get some weights (easy); 2) need to get mentally prepared for some of the harder exercises (procrastination).

One of the most ‘feared’ exercise, especially because it’s in Stage 1 is the prone jackknife. The first time I tried it, at PT, I couldn’t even get into the starting position. When I finally got there with difficulty, I was so wobbly that I kept falling off. It was both disheartening and, because it was at a public gym, kinda embarrassing.

I tried again today at home, and hey! I did a bunch of them, just like that. I’m pleasantly surprised. I have no idea why the change from the previous attempt at PT. Possibly:

• I have better core strength (yeah, I wish)
• I’m using a smaller, and less inflated swiss ball
• I wasn’t wearing shoes
• I was at home, so no fear about falling off and looking like an idiot

It’s a good core / ab strengthening exercise. I’ve been scoping out dumbbells, barbells, bench etc and I have a pretty good idea what I’ll be getting. I have quite a good budget to work with — if I joined the local gym it’ll be $800 a year, so my aim is to spend around that price point.

I ran in the Elvis is Alive 5k race tonight. I forgot the sensor for my nike+ so timing was done using my watch — I ran between 33.00 and 33.30mins. Pretty slow, considering the winning male was at 15.53 and the winning female 19.00. Ah well.

 

It was definitely a fun run, with emphasis on fun. Performing on the stage was Joe “Elvis” Tirrito, who did a good job. There were about 30 runners dressed as Elvis, from a baby to taichi Elvis, who I found doing, well, taichi, before the race. After the race there was a best dressed Elvis competition, which was judged according to the volume of cheers they got from the crowd. The initial favourite was a baby, and even though the martial arts Elvis trio did some moves, the prize went to a tall Elvis.

Each runner got a free beer after the race, and I bought one extra, heehee. There were also water, peanut butter & banana sandwiches, bananas, muscle milk and cookies. I found a spot on the lawn near the front of the stage, and made friends with a group of girls sitting next to me. They were dressed as Jailhouse Rock escapees. They asked me to take pictures of them, and I asked if I could take one with them. It was runners’ solidarity, I think.

full set at flickr

link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SukhjDsgeF4

I did 45mins upstairs at the work gym today. Machines cos someone was using the free weights. Like PC vs mac, canon vs nikon, there’s the perennial argument of machines vs free weights. Personally, I like free weights but the machines make me stick to better form. There’s no right or wrong, and if anything I like the idea of switching up regularly.

Speaking of machines and weights, I came across this infomercial on the tdp forum. Its selling point is so ridiculous it’s hilarious. One of the forum commenters posted,

Stupid people. You can do the same motion without spending $20 and get a free facial at the end. You could even make money with it!. I think marketing has the wrong angle

Watch the video and think about that comment. Hee. I’m 12.

5.13km 33.21min 6.29min/km

Hadn’t gone running for almost 2 weeks, which feels like forever. 6.29mins per km is way way too slow. I can theorize on why: out of practice, different route (actual roads vs track at PT), or plain having reached my optimum speed. I need to slowly train back up.

At the risk of sounding like i’m at confession — it’s been 6 weeks since I did weight training. Since I moved out of PT to be exact. I don’t own any weights, and I don’t want to join the nearby gym. For the $800 a year fee, I’d rather get my own weights, but it is fairly low down on my priority / shopping list — need to get a sofa bed and kitchen table first. The good news is, the office building has a free gym for its tenants. It’s fairly basic — a couple of ellipticals, a couple of treadmills, free weights — but more than enough for me. So I took stuff with me today and went upstairs at 4.30pm. There were only 2-3 other people, pretty good.

It was nice to lift weights again. I went straight back to the reps and weights I was using before my break and boy are my muscles hurting right now!

Conventional wisdom is that rest is an essential part of the fitness cycle of exercise, diet, recovery. There needs to be time off for the body to recover and build the muscles we all so want. I think it also makes the whole journey easier. At my peak I was exercising 5, even 6 days a week; a lot of people do that, but I’m not 100% sure i could have kept that up. Recently I’ve relapsed to only 1-2 times running a week, and I’m slacking in the food front too. I think somewhere in-between is the most feasible — 3 times exercise a week varying between running and lifting, continuing the healthy eating but allowing myself days off. Yep, that sounds like a permanent lifestyle change alright.

 

I’ve been waking up to horrible leg cramps in both calves, as i stretch the back of the calf muscle seize up and feels like it’s solidifying. It doesn’t last long, but the last couple of days i’ve stayed sore all day. Didn’t impact my running, but it’s annoying.

Seems to be a mineral deficit of some sort, one or more of the alkaline / alkaline earth metals — potassium, calcium, magnesium. And/or dehydration. Many of the remedies include bananas for the potassium level. Milk, potatoes and water.

So I had one yesterday and one today. I’m not very keen on bananas, especially if they’re too ripe. Still, if it helps, then i’m all for it. Then again, I suspect what I really need is the osim usqueeze foot massager — I gave mine to Mum, probably time to get a new one for myself.

Nine months is a good time to update on the Getting Healthy project. I guess I should start with some stats, which is basically 33 pounds / 15kg since October 2008. That’s over 21% of my starting weight.

Yes, I have acted nonchalant about it, saying simple things like, “oh, i just go running” when people comment on the weight loss. But I’d be cheating myself if i didn’t come clean and say, yes, i put a lot of effort into it. And I’m happy and proud of the result.

Been reading a lot of the NYT Health section, and this article about the cost of weight loss resonated. This is what they say about potential cost,

How ready are you? The more committed you are, the less you will need to spend.

The hardest is the $0.00 DIY approach — count calories, exercise, change lifestyle by yourself. This is the approach I took. Registered on tdp, started running. Ate out less, made more salads. I suppose if i had to place a monetary value, it’s the $30 I spent on the Nike+. More about that in a bit.

For those people who need more help than the DIY approach, the costs go up as more help and professionals get involved. Buying a diet or exercise book is low cost, as is joining a group or a low cost gym. But then it gets serious. Hospital programs, personal trainers, nutritionists. There is no end to the amount of money one can throw at the ultimate goal of losing weight.

In MBA school we were taught opportunity costs. There is general consensus that even if we had to spend money now on things like Weight Watchers, exercise equipment, or the perceived increased cost of healthier food, at the end of the day there is a HUGE potential savings in terms of avoided healthcare costs. As one of the commenters said

What’s cheaper — $13.00 a week to attend a lively, educating, and motivating Weight Watchers meeting; or 100.00 a month on cholesterol lowering drugs; insulin or the oral equivalent, blood pressure meds, and other obesity related illnesses?

I didn’t seek out any help or enrolled in any support group. In a way, I was arrogant enough to believe that I had sufficient commitment to motivate myself. Plus, until recently, i viewed this journey as a highly personal and private one. What helped, was that I didn’t set a fixed goal. I didn’t say lose x pounds by y date. I only set a rough target of around 8 to 8½ stone, all i wanted is to get under 120 pounds / 55kg. The key was as little pressure as possible and set small goals. More recently, i’ve given myself more slack in the calories front. If i had a weekend of overeating, then so be it. It’s no big deal.

That said, I’m glad that I’ve found friends who are also on the same journey. I should have known that having support and feedback would result in even more motivation and encouragement. I get a buzz every time I tweet my runs and someone likes or, better, comments, on my fb status. So thank you, friends.

And it brings me to this long, interesting Wired article on the data effect of Nike Plus. I can say it’s the best investment I’ve made in this journey. I don’t go running without it. It’s so simple, giving me great tracking data that satisfies on a deep, deep level. No, it’s not only because I’m a numbers person, an excel geek — 1.2 million runners, 130 million miles run attest to that.


So here is my Nike+ chart. The stats at the bottom say: 109 runs, 69 hours, 620km, 40684 calories burned. More stats: longest run 11.7km, fastest 5k @27.22min. On average i’m running 2 times a week, and I run most on a Monday. To which I say, i’m committed to keeping it up.

feeling a bit sorry for myself, found myself with conjunctivitis today for no good reason. Not as bad as some cases, a bit painful, can’t really open my left eye comfortably. Doctor and eye drops came to almost $150. I need some optrex or some saline to wash my eyes, but obviously I don’t have them at home. Sigh.

Nice article in the NYT about core exercises. It reinforces what I’ve learned since I started the Getting Healthy program — sit-ups aren’t good for you, core means the whole core and great abs are made in the kitchen.

Anyway this is a video I found on the TDP forums that had me chuckling. So much bullshit has been perpetuated by bad personal trainers and inaccurate articles in fashion magazines. I don’t know what mua means but I guess this is a convo between someone who is in the know and the average gullible girl who believes everything she reads in Us magazine. I mean, she said “toned” — such a sure sign.

I ran to the lake and back tonight after work. Oh boy, it’s such a great route, I’m at the lake in just over 2km (10mins) and the path is perfect — wide, good surface, not too many people. All in all 5.25km. Mapped the route at run.com so I had a sense of distances. I can see me doing 10km up and down the lakefront easy.

Exercise and food goals were met. Didn’t do any writing. Still debating whether to set June challenge. Business trip and moving — too many moving parts.

exercise
• run 50k || done 62.89km
• 5k in under 30mins x4 || done
• 500 crunches || done
• 500 squats || done

food
• vegetarian day x4 || done
• meet calorie goal 24 days || done

other
• find an apartment! || DONE!!!
• finish writing WS || nope

so according to ExRx, I should be bench pressing 77 pounds. Gulp. That’s almost twice what I’m doing lately — I use 2x20 pound dumbbells. I should be able to go to 2x25; and If I’m going to use the “lift to failure” rule, I can probably do 1 rep at 60 pounds.

sigh. obviously a way to go.

I ate all this food, including peanut butter cereal bar, half an apple crumble cookie, and still according to TDP I haven’t eaten enough for today. That’s cos it’s vegetarian day, I guess. I still have 80 calories left over, but i’m too full and it’s late. It’s been a pattern, I’m not eating enough, may be i need to make some more food.

I was watching The Biggest Loser the other night and was marvelling at the contestants who’ve lost more than I weigh! I do realize that 1) they started off with a lot to lose and 2) they were at a 18-week intensive boot camp. I hope they can keep it up in the long run.

Anyway, I hit 25 pounds lost last weekend, and it’s taken over 7 months. The period between Jan-Mar was difficult, cos of the whole being in PT and living out of suitcases thing. I didn’t even have my scale, and it was a miracle that I kept the same weight. I’m reasonably happy about my progress. Of course I would have wanted to get to this point earlier, and am dreading that last 5-10 pounds that would get me back to my college weight.

Everything I read tells me that 1-2 pounds is the maximum amount to lose per week. So when I read about the weight loss of 8, 10 pounds a week, my first thought is to worry that it’s too much. However, I don’t know where the people are on their weight-loss journey — if they have a lot to lose, and starting out, i think it’s okay.

Yes, Jove. Cutting calories without exercise results in the dreaded skinny fat.

Studies suggest that it might be deadlier to be thin, sedentary, and unfit than obese, active, and fit.

gulp

I started strength training in February. I’m seeing some results, but even though I’m lifting weights that are heavy for me, I suspect they’re not heavy enough. Sigh. When I move to my proper apartment, I’m getting weights, a bench and some equipment. Then I’m going to start NROLW.

I have a 10 day prescription of amoxycillin. 2 tablets twice a day, ie 2x1000mg a day. For 10 days. That’s the longest course of antibiotics I’ve even been given, and that’s a strong dose.

I must say that it seems to be mostly working (touch wood). I slept till after 12pm today, having been pretty much unconscious all night. Still groggy, but the severe coughing and especially the pain has abated.

Things today disappointed me:

1. My cough worsened, to the point that the itchiness turned to discomfort and pain. Can’t take deep breaths either. So I sent myself home from work and went to see a doctor
2. $130 for treatment and prescription. And I’d forgotten about the “get prescription at pharmacy, not at the clinic” bit. As I’m on the international health plan, the card isn’t recognised and I had to pay and claim
3. My blood pressure was at 150/90. It’s not the flu or the cough; this is the one thing that is freaking me out — what would it be if I haven’t been running?
4. Other general blah stuff, mainly work-related

I was curious, after signing up for the corporate challenge, about what my current 5k time is. When I did the standchart 10k last February, I was in the 40min region which is embarrassing really. According to my Nike+, the best time was around 33mins, which was probably part of some random run along Bowen Road. It’s still a slow time, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that a) I’m not a fast runner and b) it will take time and training.

So what I did on the treadmill yesterday and today was tried a fixed 5k. Warmed up for 4 mins, then started tracking on my Nike+. Not on the treadmill cos it’s in miles. Pushed harder today than yesterday and already seeing results: yesterday: 28.40mins | today: 27.26mins.

I’m pleased that I came in under 30mins. I still need to improve on it — the goal is to do the corporate challenge in under 30mins. The challenge is 3.5miles = 5.63km. Translated to 5k terms gives 26.40mins. I’m thinking it’s doable.

Today’s run: 46.02min 7.13km 6.26min/km

I haven’t gone running since the 8th, and I’ve been sick since good friday. My voice is still gone, and today I’ve had to supplement my 4 types of medicines and cough syrup with panadol cos of a ginormous headache.

What freaked me out was when I was putting on my trousers this morning, I had to go back one notch on the belt. This means I’ve gained back some of the weight I lost. Argh!!!!

I was wondering if I should go running while sick. My body certainly doesn’t feel like exercise, and my gut feeling is to be lazy. Should we exercise while sick? I guess it depends on a few things:

• the nature of the illness — broken bones does not lend itself towards running
• the intensity — if you’re too sick to get out of bed, then no
• type of exercise

The idea is not to overtax the body, whose priority at this point is to recover. A cold or flu, like what I have, should be okay for light exercise. This view seems to be shared by many people.

The other concern is to make sure other people aren’t going to be affected, especially in a gym. I actually was breathing well, and didn’t start coughing till 1 minute from the end. All in all, a good run.

I went for massage in some shape or form for 4 days in a row. Foot massage, spa massage, lymphatic drainage and then facial at L’Occitane. I was feeling quite miserable cos of the throat infection. It was a “Velvety Apple Almond” course. Cleanser, then…oh sweetness…10mins of STEAM treatment!!! It was supposed to be for my face, and both my face and my throat was ever so grateful. A little bit of pain as the therapist squeezed the blackheads off my nose, then a couple of masks. Feeling good afterwards.

From David Kuckhermann, a renowned percussionist. I’ve been doing these for a week and they really work. Very simple exercises that take very little time. Great advice.

We went back to our usual (more regular) massage place for a second round of body massage. The type that hurts and is definitely not soothing. A different experience.

It’s mm’s birthday. We went to a spa at one of the big hotels. Very tastefully and serenely decorated, with tea served as soon as we arrived and peaceful ambient music throughout.

We went for a 3 hour package. Started with foot massage — foot spa, massage itself then a mud wrap. Then hot stone massage and facial. The first time we had hot stone massage was in Bangkok after the Kenya trip. It was much needed, really great and relaxing. Nothing since then has compared. I fell asleep somewhere between the massage and facial, totally missing the facial experience. The next thing I knew, the therapist was peeling the mask off. Heh.

We had a little time to spare so we enjoyed the hot pool, sauna and steam room. Pretty decent.

Dinner with her family at the usual restaurant. Good to have a pampering day.

I did 40lbs shoulder press, and 180lb leg press today. woot! A new workout I came across is a combo. This one combines split squats with deltoid raises. For the second set I substituted the raises with hammer curls. [it is good]

mid-month update for the TDP challenge.

• run 50k // 37.8/50
• intervals x8 // 3/8
• strength training x8 // 4/8
• increase bench press weight by 10lbs // done 24—>40
• track every day // 15/31
• 2 veg every day // 15/31
• meet calorie goal 24 days // 11/24
• finish editing nanonovel // 10/25

ARGH! I’ve never had so much carbs in one day. Not my own pictures, but these are representations of what I had:

• honey wheat walnut toast, 2 slices at breakfast
• meatball pasta for tea/dinner
• french bread, 2 slices with pasta
• paczki, a type of polish doughnut served on what they call Fat Tuesday and is basically Shrove Tuesday

I can’t imagine the overload and the amount of exercise needed next week.

I got New Rules of Lifting for Women and looked through it last weekend. The idea is that women should stop with the tiny 5lb pink weights and start lifting heavier weights. I know this already, from hanging out at the tdp forums the last few months.

I also learn that:

• It’s ridiculously difficult to build muscles — fear of bulking up if using heavy weights is unfounded
• Toning is a marketing word and has no place in the vocabulary of anyone serious about their fitness
• Even though weight training doesn’t score very high on the calories-consumed scale, muscles will keep on working after exercise, and that’s when energy is spent — that’s the afterburn
• Cardio exercises (running, elliptical) are options, not mandatory, in fat loss programs
• Don’t obsess about weight-loss, focus on fat loss and changes in body shape — this is easier said than done cos weight is still the most visible quantitative measure
• It’s also impossible to spot reduce, which is bad news for getting rid of the fat-fat tummy
• Discipline and hard work are needed

That said, i haven’t started following the workouts in the book yet, I need to organise myself as they seem quite in depth. The whole book contains workouts for 6 months, gradually building up weight, intensity and reps. At this point in time, I don’t want to give up running completely, as cardio has its place in improving respiration, heart rate and circulation (ABC).

I’ve been using the machines here at PT, if I go early enough in the day, it’s not so crowded. Most recent workout:

• fly: 8@50 x3
• leg abductor inner: 8@130 x3
• leg abductor outer: 8@130 x3
• seated shoulder press: 8@25 x3
• tricep press: 8@60 x3
• abs: 8 sets x3
• REPEAT

[nomenclature: 8@50 x3 = 8 reps, 50lbs, 3 sets]

I guess for a beginner it’s pretty decent. I found shoulder press very hard, barely able to get through the last rep of the sets, and I was only at 25-30lbs. Need to work on that.

I tested on the treadmill at Car’s home on 6 July 2008. At 0% incline I ran 1 mile in 14.31mins. When I went running today on the treadmill here at PT, I thought it’d be interesting to see how I’m doing in terms of speed. Random incline, between 0.4 and 1.6%, ran 1 mile in 12.30mins.

That’s 13.9% faster. Probably can do even better if I run all out.

New Year’s Day is the most popular time to set resolutions. And losing weight / exercising is probably the most popular resolution, like, ever.

I’ve never been one to make resolutions, and originally I didn’t want to post this cos a) i might get complacent and b) i really didn’t want any jinx effect. But it being new year resolution day I think I can afford to give myself some encouragement.

Anyway I discovered the daily plate way back in 2006, but only used it to track food very occasionally (ie when I remembered). When I started running, I used TDP to track food, exercise and weight. It’s a good tool, easy to use, easy to get into a habit of updating. it doesn’t have all the food I eat so I estimate; it overestimates the impact of exercise so I report 5-10mins less, it’s no big deal.

So, yeah, I lost like 15 pounds since October. Pretty neat.

I half-heartedly tried running a few times throughout the years, but could never get into it. I got breathless to quickly, my knees hurt, I felt I was going too slowly. The lesson of 2 10km races with no training weren’t heeded properly.

I started being serious about running 2 months ago when I got the ipod. Then I got the nike+ and being able to keep statistics was the biggest motivation. I should have realised that all it took was a geeky angle.

I was very slow initially. Added the inconvenience of street running — traffic, stupid pedestrians who block the whole pavement, dogs and their walkers — meant an inordinate amount stopping and starting. The first record on my nike+ showed a speed of 8min/km, a result of jogging for a block or two, walking, and walking during the final 20mins. Mostly I’ve been keeping in the 7-ish min/km tempo. Occasionally I’d break 7mins.

The knees haven’t stopped hurting, but in only 2 months I’ve done pretty okay. I’ve made an effort to run at least 4-5 times a week; other times I walked or if I’m at a hotel I use the elliptical. One day a week is rest day.

The latest big breakthrough is this weekend when I decided instead of running around the block, to run over to Bowen Road and use the “dedicated” running route. Boy it made such a huge difference! There were a lot of people, but it was never crowded. The initial parts were shared with traffic, but it then quickly became pedestrian only. Conditions were ideal, yesterday I ran until the 3km marker on the route, and including the distance from home it ended up being almost 12km.

Today I selected by distance. 5 mins walking warm-up before starting the workout. Hardly any traffic stops and running all the way, no walking. Turned the voice notification on and stopped the timer at 10km exactly. Then another 10 mins cool down walking home.

1.08 is still slow, I’d like to get to under 30mins per 5km. But as a target reached I feel I deserve a little self-congratulation. There’s lots of room for improvement, plenty of time for building up speed and strength.

I tried hiit aka high intensity interval training on the elliptical today. The idea of HIIT is to alternate short bursts of high intensity activity with a short period of low to medium intensity, and repeat for anything from 6-12 sets depending on level. As a beginner, I didn’t try to do too much: 5mins warm up, 30sec at resistance=10 pedalling as hard as I can, 90sec of slow pedalling at resistance=3, repeat for 6 sets, 5mins cool down.

There’s a lot of articles extolling the benefits of HIIT vs low intensity, steady cardio. It’s touted as the superior fat burning exercise. I think both are beneficial and it’s probably worth alternating between them. Mostly, the suggestions are to do HIIT only 2-3 times a week, and not to over “indulge”.

Calorie-wise, the actual calories burned during a HIIT session isn’t going to be greater than a steady cardio session, especially since it takes half the time to complete. But since it’s working the muscles harder, the muscles continue burning energy long after the exercise ends. Even after one session, and perhaps this is my preconception, I feel my arm and thigh muscles actually aching, and my heart pumps a little harder.

What I’m liking is that I’m discovering and coming up with different types of exercises. Weight loss will be good, but I want to see the difference in body shape much more.

So i got tired of too much eating and decided to take a little more control over what I eat 2 weeks ago. Been keeping to net around 1,200 calories a day and some running. Problem about being on business trips: a) eating out food and b) difficult to motivate myself to exercise (though this is as valid at home as being away). I’m proud that I did 30mins on the elliptical at the hotel gym 3 days in a row this week. Put in a tiny amount of weights too, and now my arm muscles are telling me I should have done that sooner.

Not seeing any major weight loss, which I’m sure will come eventually. Fingers crossed. What I have noticed, with basically keeping to salads and watching portions, is how not hard it’s been. Not quite easy, hence the not!hard. I don’t feel uncomfortably full after meals and I’ve been able to stay away from sweets. There were a couple of trays of treats — brownies, caramel slices, M&Ms — today cos of training sessions. I stood for the longest time smelling the treats and then walked away. I had too much chocolate when I was young, so I can stay away. Last time in Chicago I loaded up on steak but this trip I’ve had very little red meat. Travelling on my own without the influence of my colleagues help — I get food mainly from the deli next to the hotel — they do a great spinach, apple & cranberry salad and this lovely butternut squash ravioli.

I hope I can continue this discipline and continue running when I get home. Preparing for the 10km next February. I want to shave at least 10% off my time which, with training, shouldn’t be too difficult.

I’d be kidding myself if I claimed it’s all for getting healthy. The ultimate goal is to get back to my college weight. Healthy eating habit is the bonus goal.

So it’s 5am Chicago time and I’ve been up for almost 2 hours. Stupid jetlag.

I went to bed at 9pm, woke up at 1am then at 3am. 6 hours’ sleep. Doubt it’s enough to keep me going all day.

I feel like some fruit, or may be diet coke. But I’m too lazy at the prospect of brushing my teeth again.

I set the alarm for 7am. I wonder if I should crawl back to bed and attempt sleep.

Stupid jetlag.

I’ve been taking a lot of pictures of my meals lately. Instead of posting per event, how about just a sampler?

These from the team dinner a couple of weeks ago. mm was there too. It’s one of those big multicourse meals at a private kitchen. Among the plentiful of food on offer: a gigantic plate of prawn toast and a special soup with I think fish maw but I don’t know what the exact name is.

The second lot from last week’s team lunch. Steamed marrow with wind fungus and tender pork liver with greens. Surprisingly the liver is one of my favourites at this restaurant.

Dinner with friends at Rice Paper Vietnamese restaurant. Make your own rice paper prawn rolls and yummy duck curry. The curry was served with french bread. Then we went crazy with the desserts. Five of us, five desserts. Here’s the soufflé and what they call French Kiss — a shortbread filled with cream with raspberry sorbet.

After all these excesses, I decided this last weekend that enough is enough. Been careful about what I eat this week, trying to keep to vegetarian and keeping a loose count of calories. Let’s see if it works.

We missed the closing ceremony — it had just begun when the plane landed and I was too intent on unpacking, showering and doing laundry to catch the end.

Although I missed the handball and water-polo, 2 sports I love watching but only get to see every 4 years; and I was on vacation, I thought I did well in terms of catching the important sports. Japanese tv repeated and repeated on their athletes’ wins, and why not? They showed a collage of their medal winners (and those who didn’t win), I couldn’t understand the commentary but I was still moved. It doesn’t matter which country, the joy when an athlete gets a medal has no boundaries.

There’s been so much said about China. The no-expenses-spared extravaganza. The haul of medals. The volunteers. The military precision organisation. The pride.

There is one group I was particularly interested in, the older-than-usual athletes. The New York Times summarised their amazing achievements. Notable:

• Constantina Tomescu-Dita, 38, Romania, women’s marathon gold medal
• Dara Torres, 41, US, oldest swimming medalist with 3 silvers
• Hiroshi Hoketsu, 67, Japan, dressage, the oldest competitor

And so to the final medal count. I must admit the immediate reaction the first time I saw the final table wasn’t at the 51 golds that China won, I’d expected to see them at the top and wasn’t surprised. It was the UK at #4. I mean, wow. Ahead of Germany and Australia? That’s an achievement. I saw a Rebecca Adlington interview video on the Guardian and if she’s a typical Team GB athlete, then the UK must be doing something right.

I don’t want to be harsh but of course it matters whether it’s a gold, silver or bronze. The Americans are deluding themselves by counting the total number of medals rather than what the rest of the world uses, # of gold medals. More analysis next post.

mm belongs to a traditional sports club, nothing fancy but lots of activities. It also has one of the oldest and most active bowling facility around.

We’ve been meaning to go, but never find the time. So today we made a special effort. Had to wait half an hour, which we spent watching some really good players. You can tell they’re good players by their robotic wrist guards, own shoes and own balls — often one player will have 2-3 balls.

My grandfather played in the league and my dad isn’t bad either. Me? I used to play a bit, but now I’m totally out of practice. After a few bowls I realise I need one of those wrist support cos I was all over the place. I managed to get 107 and 114; mm got 105 and 98. We had a really enjoyable time.

Talking about spa beds, my new foot massager arrived and I’m currently enjoying having my feet squeezed, vibrated and pounded. Not the same as going to a real person, but this can be enjoyed anytime.

Bliss!!

I’ve had a blocked left ear for weeks. It didn’t affect me that much at home or at work. Home is quiet to the point of silence and I sit in an out-of-place corner at work. The only problem is in crowded places like restaurants where there is a lot of ambient noise. The noise seems to get stuck in my head, but it provided another good excuse for me to be unsociable.

I had some spare time this afternoon so I finally made myself go to the doctor’s. As I suspected it was just earwax, not an infection. It was the doctor who irrigated my ear, not like when I was young when the nurse did it. Actually I preferred the nurse in Barnet. Took the doctor 4 times to clear it, and the gunge that popped out was pretty yucky.

Now there seems to be a big engine next to my left ear, I’m hearing a lot of extra sounds. I need to get used to this.

via bb.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) is running a Thanks Mom initiative from 5th to 19th May. During the event, costs to join the Marrow Donor Registry are paid for by generous partners and contributors. Their goal during the event is to add 10,000 donors online and 36,000 donors at marrow drives.

In the US, you get the inside of your cheek swabbed. You get a kit at home or you go to a sponsored NMDP bone marrow drive. If you are not a US resident, this is still important information. Even if you do not live in the US, people who register in the US could save the life of a person anywhere in the world, maybe even where you live. So tell someone about this.

THE FACTS:

• 70% of the people who need a bone marrow transplant will need an unrelated donor
• Many people will not find their match, so more people are needed
• The most likely match the same or similar ethnicity
• There is a severe shortage of people of African descent on the registries worldwide. It is very hard to match someone who is African Caribbean. There are others who are even harder to find a match for. If you are Chinese, it is very difficult to find a match. There are severe shortage of people of many ethnicities and you may be surprised to find out you are on the list.
• 49% of the matches in the US involve an international donor or recipient, including recipients in countries where there are no registries, which includes all of the Caribbean.
• This is a life-saving procedure for the recipient that is low-risk, not time-consuming, and not done at a cost to the donor.

Before doing so, read the faq and medical guidelines carefully. It is a commitment, and donating bone marrow is a little involved than donating blood.

I haven’t signed up yet. Not because I don’t want to, but I need to find out if being disqualified from donating blood outside the UK applies for donating bone marrow too.

I thought I might go to the dance studio today. Or if I’m feeling needy go to foot massage.

Sigh.

Woke up with hay fever. Two triludans (um, only supposed to have one every 12 hours) later, my nose itches, my skin itches, my eyes are dry and I can’t stop sneezing.

Managed to nap a little in the afternoon, by the time I woke up it was 6.10pm. I couldn’t see the buildings outside for the smog cover.

Fucking pollution.

Oh yes. I bought yet another pair of new sneakers. I usually keep 2 pairs of sports-only sneakers around cos I have a tendency to break them easily. And lo and behold, my old pair broke. Heehee. I don’t need any excuse to buy sneakers.

These are nike air max moto+ 5, which is freaky, cos the previous pair I bought last year are nike air max moto+ IV. It’s a pure coincidence, cos I didn’t even look at the model name and number till just now.

And talking about exercise, this is a 2 minute ab workout. The amazing thing is that the presenter didn’t even break sweat, she went about it like she was stirring sugar into a cup of tea.

I’ve starting going to funky dance classes with my colleagues. A couple of them have kinda bitten the bug and made it sound fun. I was skeptical because well, I don’t dance and it sounded naff. But I went to my first class a couple weeks ago and it turned out to be beneficial. To someone with no sense of rhythm like me it’s like a glorified aerobics lesson. The class is 90mins long and is very energetic. I end up completely drenched in sweat. I’m not viewing it as dancing, just a good form of exercise. I’ll keep it up as long as I can.

There are some great videos, but this one is closest to what the class is about. Basically, there’s a lot of arm-flailng and jumping about. Like I said, good exercise.

I finished the 10km race in 1.36, which is very slow but I don’t care.

It was cold, but I didn’t want to leave anything with the bag drop cos of the long queues at the end of the race at the pickup point. So I went out in shorts and a fleece sweater. The sweater went round my waist as soon as the race started and stayed there till I got home, so it was kinda pointless.

I ran the first 2.5km, which I thought was pretty good. The next 5km was walk-uphill-run-downhill. The last 2.5km was mostly walking. There were whole families, kids, and a couple of disabled athletes, it was pretty relaxed.

I was home and showered by 9.30am.

And my shoes stayed intact this time.

After work I went to the park where I queued up for almost 2 hours, shuffling slowing in a never-ending snake-like line. The purpose was to get my marathon race kit. Yes yes yes, i’m running the 10km not the marathon but this is what the event is called. The kit comprises: a T-shirt, baggage tag, coloured bag for baggage, race magazines, a souvenir coin and most importantly, my race number label and the timer chip. The timer chip is the black widget at the bottom there.

Race this Sunday. Have to get up at at 5.30am for a 6.40am start. Wish me luck.

I was off sick this week for a day and a third (cos I went home mid-afternoon yesterday). Just the usual flu, and a lot people at the office are coming down with it. The weather has been cold and the last couple of days we’ve had cold drizzles. Very grotty London wintery weather.

mm is tired and stressed out too. It’s worrying.

According to research published in the European Heart Journal work stress has a direct biological impact on the body, causing changes in the body that increases the risk of heart disease. The study began in the 1960s and involved over 10,000 British civil servants.

People who reported stressful jobs appeared less likely to eat sufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables, and were less likely to exercise - although problem drinking did not emerge as a significant problem in this study. That is hardly surprising, and can be considered a secondary consequence to stress.

What was interesting is that stress appeared to upset the part of the nervous system which controls the heart, telling it how to work and controlling the variability of the heart rate. This means that even if someone had a good lifestyle — eating healthily, exercising, not smoking and drinking — stress may cause heart problems regardless.

If there’s a reason for reducing stress and having proper work-life balance, this is it.

via mefi, a 2 minute test for tiredness.

Well, I’ve been stressed out with the merger for months, only gotten a respite from non-stop travelling this month because i need to setup and run four payrolls. And the last week has been highly stressful because of said payrolls.

So yeah, I don’t need some stupid test to tell me I’m tired.

It’s one of those indulgence days.

Met mm for lunch. We were talking about it on Thursday and agreed on the Korean restaurant. Now looking back, we never actually talked about which Korean restaurant (out of many in the area) but we both knew where to go. We had cold noodles and oxtail soup. The noodles were very nice, and we’d order it again definitely.

After lunch we took the bus to the acupuncturist’s place. I hadn’t been since November, and got a small disapproving look from the nurse. My original reason — a terrible unending migraine — hadn’t returned. But I’m sure the reason behind the headache — stress — is still there.

We could have gone shopping but we decided to go for foot massage instead. Ah, so nice. I fell asleep, as usual.

Dinner at a wood-smoke oven place. The starters, Waldorf salad and cream of pumpkin soup, were good. But the wood-smoked steak was horrible. Not tough, the other way round and that’s because it’s been treated with baking soda to make it tender. Problem is, it takes the flavour and texture completely away. Disappointing. Even a free tiramisu won’t persuade us to return.

So, simple day full of eating and pampering. Nice.

I’m sure it’s not portending any doom but I’m starting the new year with a cold. It got cold suddenly last night, falling to 10°C, and today it barely crept to 15. Of course, when I told certain people they rolled their eyes at me.

Heh. According to wisebread:

The most frugal approach to fighting a cold is to do nothing. Grin, sneeze, cough, and bear it and in a week you will be magically cured.

Double heh. I took some vitamin C and some panadol. Sleeping till 11am this morning helped. Should be okay.

A little quiz to find your real age, in terms the body’s age rather than mental age. The questions take into account lifestyle, activities and health. I didn’t score so well in the stress and exercise questions but diet (mostly home made, non-fried meals), no history of smoking and low alcohol consumption (nowadays, hee) helped. Safety-conscious is a factor too — always wearing a seat belt and not participating in dangerous sports increases life expectancy. There’s a little bit of a duh factor in some of the questions.

Not good enough to get to age 12 though. Drat.

Went with mm to see her TCM doctor about my headache. Got my pulse taken, my neck stretched and was told that I had the typical stress-related tension headache. Had acupuncture treatment — 4 on my neck, 2 at the top of my head and 2 on my forehead. Unlike the acupuncture that I get at my chiropodist, here they pass a soft electric current through the needles and I could feel the pulsing. Wasn’t uncomfortable though.

Normally they’d give patients strong herbal tea and we have to go back 2 or 3 times a week for a few weeks. When they learnt that I was going on a trip I got powdered medicine for the whole 2 weeks. Twice a day, dissolve the powder in warm water. Tastes fine.

I was also told not to stare at the computer too long, stay away from caffeine and fried food so I get re-balanced. The first two probably difficult and the third is easier to do at home. We’ll see.

well, I woke up and my head still hurt. But I had lots to do at work so I trudged in.

My colleague took me out for breakfast and it felt better, but I had to take 2 rounds of panadols before lunch. I think at one point I had a slight temperature and was feeling sickly. Then mid-afternoon it started getting better.

I had to go to an external meeting at 4.30pm but before that I went to the drugstore and bought some Redoxon. Dissolved 2 tablets in 500ml of Evian and felt way better. Oh, plus I had a salad for dinner cos I had to use up the fruit and veg in the fridge — so I chopped up some celery, yellow pepper, apple, mango and dragon fruit. No dressing. I guess the vitamin C attack worked.

4am: woke up with headache

5am: took 2 panadols, still painful. couldn’t sleep, read a bit

6am: tired out, tried to sleep

7.40am: alarm. been sleeping in fits and starts

8am: called work. made a cup of tea, took another 2 panadols

8.30am: tea hasn’t helped, panadols hardly made a dent, back to bed

11am: still persisting, took 2 panadols

12pm: made lunch, in hope that food would help … only slightly

1pm: made it to work. answered emails, printed out stuff for trip

2pm: another 2 panadols, actifast this time. called T, whose wedding dinner I had promised to attend tonight

3pm: i think I’m gonna be sick

4pm: may be a sausage & egg mcmuffin meal will help (not really)

4.30pm: dropped off cheque with T, said hello, took a picture

5pm: home. 2 panadols. I know, over the limit already

6.30pm: pounding, pounding, pounding … need nap

7pm: wow, i was really out. may be 0.000001% better, trying to resist more medication

8pm: is it time for the call yet?

9pm: laundry. anything to distract me

10pm: thank goodness for the blackberry, the call is delayed for 5 mins

10.45pm: okay, all done. I had 2 more which brings the total to 12 in 24 hrs. I’m stopping now

11pm: bed

that I won’t be able to do nano this year. Day One of the merger is likely to be 01-jan-2008 which means by November it’ll be busy busy busy at work. I won’t have either a personal office or a quiet cubicle yet, it’s still sitting in a very enclosed conference room with little privacy. Writing at work will be out of the question.

But that can be overcome.

I had to do a hell of a lot of typing this week — I’m comparing 2 sets of documents and one set came in pdf, meaning I had to type it all out. It was fast touch-typing but the end result is my neck is stiff like a tree trunk, my left arm is strained and needless to say my left wrist and hand are both painful. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not carpal tunnel — my thumb and fingers are okay, it’s my little finger all the way up to my elbow that is causing the problems. The back of my hand too. It is some form of RSI.

Anyway, that’s my fear.

I stopped seeing the in-town chiropractor and finally went to the out-of-town one with my colleague a couple of weekends ago. It’s really far away and I am thankful that a) my colleague drove and b) he is so generous to meet me near home and drop me home afterwards.

I haven’t been to this chiro in almost 9 months, but the drill is the same. Some traction for my neck first, and yes it popped. Then rest for a while before the doctor came to manipulate the neck and spine. He said my neck is out of place and my muscles all tensed up. There’s a big rock-hard bulge on my right shoulder blade. As for my very painful upper arm, apparently it’s a little inflamed probably because of all the stress it has to deal with. After a few well placed pushes and cracks, there’s acupuncture for 5 minutes.

I went to the third session tonight, and the pain in my arm has receded to faint discomfort when I move it in a certain direction. Tonight’s traction was quite intense and now my neck muscles are stiff — a good night’s sleep and they’ll relax again. I don’t think I’ll be healed that quickly, will need a few more sessions to correct the spine displacement; and since I’m sitting at the computer all day, I’ll need maintenance every month or two.

This doctor has a lot of patients, from kids to the elderly. Even in such a remote location people go all the way out there, I take it as a sign of effectiveness.

I feel flu-y, been coughing and extremely sniffly. Either I’m coming down with something or the air is too polluted (sigh, what’s new?). My arm feels a little better because I went to the chiro today and go acupunctured again.

It’s far too hot and it’s not even June. I hate summer.

The only saving grace is I got home early enough to go swimming for 20 minutes.

A few years ago I had a huge pain in my upper left arm, there’d be a stabbing pain coming from inside my bones whenever I moved it to a certain position. It got so bad I could hardly drive — reaching the gear stick was painful. I had it fixed eventually, it was a mis-alignment in my neck that extended down my arm.

I’ve been getting stiff and painful in my left arm, hand and particularly little finger when I type too much. It gets challenging every November during nano. Just typing this post I’ve had to crack my wrist 3 times already. I think I need to look into ergonomic keyboards.

I’ve had the same arm pain for the last couple of months, only in my right arm instead of left. It’s progressively gotten worse, I can’t lift it above a certain point, though it comes and goes — it’s better during the day when I’m moving about, and bad at night. I slept with both wrist braces last night, I think it helped a bit.

I went to a chiropractor to have it looked at last week. Been going about 3 times a week. Today they acupunctured my right shoulder. Some people are afraid of acupuncture, but I was okay, there was a small prick which wasn’t painful until the doctor wriggled the needle — on purpose, to heal the muscles / tendons / whatever is wrong.

Long and short of it, I spend too much time sitting at one desk or other. My #3-7 vertebrae are out of place and need to be manipulated. Needs to be majorly cracked.

I bought a pack of batteries over the weekend, nothing out of the ordinary … one needs to have spare batteries around. This pack came with a very basic pedometer, so I thought I’d try it out today to see if I get to the 10,000 steps a day that is recommended. Thing is, being a cheapie freebie, the thing keeps resetting itself and I have to add it up roughly. I think I made around 8,000 but I’m not sure. I should get a proper one, I know.

I killed my sneakers, so I bought a new pair (with mm’s approval of course). Sneakers I wear everyday are different from the ones I wear to do sports. Yes, I’m weird that way. These are Nike air max moto+ IV, the + meaning they’re iPod enabled. woot!

Cripes, I’m stiff. Mainly, my legs are stiff and I have a sore shoulder.

I really must exercise more.

I registered for the 10km portion of the marathon a few months ago, thinking that I could train and in the process, get fit and lose the annoying pounds. But I was lazy and didn’t train properly.

Still got up at 5.30am this morning to run the race. I was right at the front of the starting line, about 10 rows from the front. Got overtaken by faster people quickly. Didn’t matter, there were a lot of people behind me. I ran for the first 2-3km, then alternated between running and walking.

The soles of my running shoes came off about half-way and by the last 1.5km the bottoms were shredding badly so I kinda struggled to the finish line.

Didn’t have a watch, but I asked a lady for the time and I think I was at the 1hr 35-40min mark. Not spectacular but it was my first time. With training I can perhaps take 20 mins off that.

There was water, bananas, chocolate and a pear at the end. The queue for baggage retrieval was terribly long. Must remember not to check luggage if I take part again.

via yahoo news, people who are fully bilingual and speak both languages every day for most of their lives can delay the onset of dementia by up to four years compared with those who only know one language.

The scientists from Toronto’s York University says that the extra effort involved in using more than one language appeared to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure nerve connections remained healthy — two factors thought to help fight off dementia.

That’s good isn’t it? So, to extrapolate, if I were fully trilingual would I delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by 8 years?

I must start training properly. Follow the program. 6 days a week. One foot in front of the other, run, repeat.

for the past 2 weeks I’ve been having hearing problems, my left ear is stuffed up for no good reason. Doesn’t bother me a lot at work since I’m mostly on email and I use my right ear for the headset. Absolutely no problem at home since I don’t talk to anyone. Now today because I’m out and about with mm, I now realise how little I’m able to hear. When we’re in a restaurant the background noise stays inside my head and I can hardly hear myself speak. If this persists I probably need to see a doctor, or at least get it syringed.