work in progress

Wed 13/4 - 50mins

Thu 14/4 - 46mins

Sun 17/4 - 46mins

Wed 20/4 - 44mins

Sat 21/5 - 42mins

When I resumed running five and a half weeks ago, I did a random 7.5K run to Changi Village and back. That night, I felt really disheartened clocking 50mins. I know I should give thanks to just be able to run but having to start slow again is never easy. Tonight I decided to try out that same route and clocked 42mins. Mental note to self : No matter how long it takes or difficult/unpleasant it is to get back on my feet again, I must persist and someday I will get there. My goal is to get it down to 37mins. Can I do it in 5 weeks' time? I don't know but I'm most definitely going to try..

After dinner, I took a bus/train to Bedok to deliver a birthday present to Claire's playmate Cayla and proceeded to run home via the route I take whenever I run home from work. Distance is slightly over 10K to loyang. It was a good run except I wish I'd taken a bottle of water with me. I saw many riders on the road near the Expo.. I can only look wistfully for now..

19/5 Thu
~ 10K (63 mins)

Suffice to say, tonight's session hurt but I LOVE the pain! I may be getting a free pass to the 21K run @ the Sundown Marathon in a couple of weeks. Will have a go at it and get myself into race mode.. i think =)

18/5 Wed
~ 4 x 1.6K (roughly 8mins - we ran in the outer lanes tonight so I don't really know the exact timing)

I need a massage ASAP!

It's been 4 weeks of regular running and I can feel the difference! Not once tonight did I have the urge to stop running.. I took exactly an hour and forty minutes to finish 15K and felt like I could still go on.. I'm so happy! =)

16/5 Mon
~ 15K (1h 40min)

Altered the latter half of the route because I really dislike the stretch from Tampines Central to Pasir Ris. Instead, I headed towards Expo and turned left into Simei. I like this route heaps better and shall stick to it for another few more runs :)

Woohoo! My 1st morning LR done! Hubs not in town this weekend so I decided to stay over at mom's - Claire gets to spend time with kong kong, por por and Chloe and I get to run to Pebble Bay! :) Running along the Tanjong Rhu connector is one of my favourite routes. This morning, there was a dragonboat team rowing along Geylang River toward Kallang Basin and for a while, I was running alongside the boat and wishing it was a sport I'd taken up in my youth. I love team sports and the camaraderie that comes with it. Listening to the chanting of the rowers and feeling their team spirit, I pushed myself to keep up with the boat for as long as I could. And then I was on my own, taking in the sights at the Kallang Basin. I've always wanted to live in an apartment in Pebble Bay overlooking the river.. Maybe someday :) So the scenic run kinda made up for the heat of the morning sun.. at times I ran strong but whenever the heat got to me, I trudged along.. overall it wasn't too bad a morning run but I know for sure I need to do this more often.. it's just too tempting to run in the cool comfort of the night. Another week's training done.. I'm looking forward to the next! :)

Sun 15/5
~ 10K (65mins)

Gave my legs a break last night and shelved the 12K LR for this weekend. I know I should keep to the schedule strictly but I figured as long as I complete my weekly workout it doesn't matter which day.. So far, since I drafted my training plan, i've kept up with it.. it's a tremendous motivation to continue doing so and I am mighty happy.. now the only problem is running only in the night.. I run when Claire has gone to bed because I belong to the category of mothers who are constantly wrecked with guilt if they don't spend enough time with their kids.. I feel bad spending time away from Claire, except when I go to work.. she takes naps in the afternoons but for no longer than an hour.. and i wanna be around when she rouses from her sleep.. I am addicted to the big bright radiant smile that breaks out on her face when she awakes and sees me *melt* which is fine if my race is the night but it's not! :( I really have to try and do my runs in the morning to get used to the morning sun.. and that means doing my morning run when Claire goes out for her morning walk with Auntie Siti.. i.need.a.lot.of.discipline.to.do.that.

Fri 13/5
~ 5.8K (30mins)

I couldn't bear the humidity and heat and so I did my tempo run on the treadmill in the gym while Claire was napping.. I.need.to.run.in.the.sun.

So glad we made it to shem's track session tonight.. a much tougher n longer workout than last week but I am mighty pleased.. I know I'd not likely complete the full workout on my own.. the poor legs are nuah now and I must see Linda at least once a week to iron out the kinks.. I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things (minus the bike leg which I miss terribly but try not to think about) still slow on the run but steady.. and I ought to lose some weight.. that extra weight (2-3kgs) I'm carry is HEAVY over a longer distance.. gotta STOP snacking on chips and chocs and ice-cream PIAK!!!

Track workout ended with makan at Adam Road.. it's good to train and eat together with my teammates again, even though we're no longer racing together in triathlons.. a pang of nostalgia hit me when Ecstasy Auntie from the fruit drink stall came around to take our orders.. it was a good feeling :)

Wed 11/5
~ 2 x 400m (warm up)
~ 6 x 800m (@ 4:00, 2:00 rest)
~ 4 x 400m (@1:45, 2:15 rest)

"Whenever I feel like I don't want to run, I always ask myself the same thing: You're able to make a living as a novelist, working at home, setting your own hours, so you don't have to commute on a packed train or sit through boring meetings. Don't you realise how fortunate you are? Compared to that, running an hour around the neighbourhood is nothing, right? Whenever I picture packed trains and endless meetings, this gets me motivated all over again and I lace up my running shoes and set off without any qualms. If I can't manage this much, I think, it'll serve me right."

"No matter what, though, I keep up my running. Running every day is a kind of lifeline for me, so I'm not going to lay off or quit just because I'm busy. If I used being busy as an excuse not to run, I'd never run again. I have only a few reasons to keep on running, and a truckload of them to quit. All I can do is keep those few reasons nicely polished."

"I never take two days off in a row.. the muscles automatically assume they don't have to work that hard anymore, and they lower their limits.. they relax and cancel out the memory of all that work."

~ three of the many nuggets of inspiration from What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

Knowing my love for good books, hubs recently bought me two by Haruki Murakami.. Norwegian Wood and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.. Hmmm.. a novelist-marathoner.. no prize for guessing which caught my interest more.. took the opportunity of a long train ride down town to meet shu for lunch and a long bus ride home after a massage with Linda Magic Fingers (she is JUST AS GOOD as before) to read half the book.. So inspired was I that I laced up immediately after getting home from Siti's birthday celebration and hit the pavement at 9:30pm.. with much good food swishing around in the tummy, I tried to enjoy my run despite the ache I'm feeling from last night's 15K.. massage with Linda helped some and I really must not forget to swallow my glucosamine capsules.. now to shower and get back to the book!

10/5 Tues
~ 10K (1h 6mins)

Woohoo! Finally finished the 15K run home.. I think the toughest stretch is from Tampines to Pasir Ris, when temptation to stop is at its height.. but tonight I told myself "If you don't finish on the 3rd try, you will keep finding reasons not to!" With a good PIAK on the backside, I pushed myself onwards.. till I reached the gates of Loyang Valley. The last time I ran a 15K was before I discovered I was pregnant with Claire some 19 months ago.. It certainly feels good to be regaining my stamina, slowly but surely.. of course I wish I could be faster, but patience! there's a time for everything :)

Mon 9/5
~ 15K (1h 46min)