theCollectiveUs

This weekend was meant to be a last training session but it rained on Saturday so I never did get a ride in. Guess that means I’ll be starting the tour less prepared than I’d have liked.

I did manage to get a run in though (and hopefully another one tomorrow). This week’s interval training was this

• 400m warm-up run
• 1600m jog
• 6 X 400m at 2:00/lap

It was supposed to be 10 laps, not 6 but the heat was very demotivating (note the difference in weather on the consecutive days). The run was pretty ok though, I think I started off with a target of 2:10 but figured that I can keep to a 2:00. I made a very conscious effort to breathe regularly and run consistently.

Plants vs Zombies awaits!

I was introduced to interval training today for running which is supposedly the fastest means to set me up for a 50min 10km pace. The idea is to run 1 minute at a fast pace followed by a minute at a relaxed pace, then 2 at a fast followed by 2 at a slow, then 3 and 3, then 2 and 2 and finally 1 and 1, hence the terminology 1-2-3-2-1.

I started off with a 1km warm-up run at a 9kph speed before launching into a 12.2kph run. My slow pace was set at 8kph which is really slightly faster than a trot. The hardest part of the workout was not so much physical as much as mental. Especially at the 3min stretch, the run felt particularly tiring and I found myself rationalizing that it’s not likely that I’m as tired as I feel since I’ve done a full 12 minutes at that pace before. I ended the run with another 1km run at 9kph.

This feels like a good routine so I’d probably want to do this more often.

Last weekend, I did the first 10km run in recent memory, possibly the first of the year but I might be wrong. It was a 10km run including a 1-2km hill portion (again, estimated, I might be wrong). I did this run last year and finished in 1:13 according to this post here. This year, I clocked 1:09:59 (less than 1:10!) which means I’m maintaining my speed and stamina. It’s a good thing because I’d be quite screwed for Monguni otherwise.

I actually felt really lazy this time round. Waking up at 5:30 in the morning is definitely not natural. I had some water, started the run and felt stitches on my right in the first kilometer. The prospect of walking 9km more proved motivational so I pressed on to run til at least the bottom of the hill where I’d probably not want to run up it anyway, pain or no pain. That was at the 3-4km mark. So I walked up the hill and overtook some of the slower runners. The downhill bits were fun but gravity proved a bitch to my toes and I ended up with blisters. I’d blame that on my socks – they’re too thick and abrasive.I’ve taken a liking to my Nike Frees. They’re slip-on shoes and are light and flexible. Running flats with them is a good experience but downhill was a bit straining on the heels because they’re not as cushioned as my previous Asics pair. I do feel that they’re building up my ankles too although it might be purely psychological.

Since I started running again, I’ve been recording my mileage and speed with the Nike+ iPod device. It failed me for the first time during the run, recording nothing for the first 15 minutes, then recording a shorter distance thereafter. It might be due to the battery running low but I’ve only used it for (according to stats) 20km so it’s an awful shame if that’s the case.

I guess the next 10km I do should be done in an hour flat. I’m keeping to a semi-regular running schedule which is a good start. It’s a good way to train up on endurance and fitness in a short time but I think I should also start getting some upper body training too so I don’t kill my back eventually.

13th June – Mount Faber Run ( I think it’s 15km? Or maybe 10. We’ll find out on the day I guess.)

20th June – Runway (Uni)Cycling

10 Jul (Tentative) – Unicycling to Desaru

31Jul to 14Aug – Mongolia Unicycle Tour! My profile is now up on the site by the way!

12 Sept – Army Half Marathon

10 Oct – Mizuno Wave Run (10km? 15km? More? I don’t know!)

17 Oct – New Balance Run

5 Dec – Standard Chart Marathon (21km so it’s not boring)

Yeah I think that’s about all the stuff I intend to do this year. It’s a good plan, with the longer runs  to take place after Monguni. If past unicycle events have been any good indication, I should be back in Singapore and clocking a very decent half marathon time effortlessly after the ordeal. For once, I rationalized and thought it through before deciding to not do this year’s marathon. It takes a lot of self-restraint because I know that if I sign up for it, I’ll end up finishing it even if a leg flops and drops off mid-race but I’ll probably do no faster than a 5 hour finish. The next marathon I run will be one where I complete it in under 4.5h. It gets boring after that.

Do you know what it’s like to fall on the floor
And cry your guts out ’til you got no more
Hey man now you’re really living

The Eels has always featured in my jogging song list because their songs are usually so raw and sad that it makes you numb and eventually makes you run that bit longer, that bit faster. Well the song is kind of apt. Today marks the first time in probably half a year that I went for a run and is the first time I’m actually using that Nike+ sensor thing that I bought almost a year ago. It’s also the first time I’m running in my Nike Free shoes that I got last Oct with the sole purpose of running.

It wasn’t such a bad run but I do feel a lot more sluggish. 5 minutes into the run, I actually felt like stopping and that’s what the Nike+ dongle is for. It’s like a videogame addiction; a new toy. I don’t know what it does and don’t know what’s going to register and I have to get to the finish to find out. 15 minutes into the run, I’m bored but I figure it’s just another 5 songs away and I can run 5 songs right?

So I ran.

The sensor is actually pretty accurate if the markings on the ground are to be believed. My iPod registered 400m on my run at about 2m shy of the 400m mark and the same distance on my walk at about 2m after the 400m mark. My timing was clocked at 29:33 for 5km which is roughly my usual pace. It’s good to be back at a similar level where I left off.

Being incredibly stupid, I dropped my ball and it rolled into a drain and it got scratched all around.

Today I started learning a few new rolls with my practice ball. I’m still not sure what I think of a 100mm ball though but i think it’d look visually more stunning though I don’t like how it controls. Butterflies don’t look as soft and flowy as with a smaller ball. I guess given my 80′s now scratched, I’ll end up getting a new 100 and some 70s.

I’ve started a cult at work. Maybe I’ll initiate a lunchtime group or something.

I need to get back into running. I took the first step by emailing a running group near my place but my email bounced. I’ll contact someone somehow eventually but for now I guess I run alone. I signed up for two 10km runs, one in June and the other in Oct. I don’t intend to finish either in anything more than an hour ten. I think that’d require some warming up.

I have to get back to running. My fitness level is becoming ridiculously bad.

I bought these a fortnight ago because I figure I *really* should get back to running. Especially since i now have a Nike+ thingamajig that tells me how fast or slow I’m running, an iPod Touch that hooks up to the thingamajig and now new shoes. The weather’s been a mixed bag – December’s cool enough to prance or sprint around but it rains every other day so you probably won’t want to prance around in snazzy new shoes.

It would almost seem like I really do like orange given the amount of orange I’m wearing on any given day but truth is, orange hides food stains well.

Joking.

This pair happens to be on offer and had the most decent color combination of the Nike shoes around. They remind me a lot of Pleasantville especially when I’m wearing shades of grey and all that stands out in my reflection on glass walls are my shoes.

I’ve yet to run in them yet but they do feel like they’d be great for that purpose. Maybe I should just wake up extra early tomorrow or Thursday and run a 2.4km around the track to get a gauge of their speed.

Or maybe I’ll just hug them to sleep and dream of running. That sounds less exhausting.

Yeah, I’ll do that.

Like all other brilliant ideas, this one started with a ‘I wonder how it is like to….’

I joggled for the first time yesterday evening at the neighborhood park – that’s jogging while juggling for those of you too lazy to click. It didn’t help that the area was dim and the street lamps only served to blind me momentarily each time I stumbled into their range. And it didn’t help that there were groups of people chatting and strolling akimbo effectively blocking everything behind them on the jogging path.

Surprisingly, joggling was a lot more intuitive than I had expected. It’d probably require a lot less concentration if I could actually see what and where I was throwing but I did notice that my drops reduced quite a bit after the first 10 minutes of running. I probably kept at it for about 3km before stopping not so much because it was tiring but because it was frustrating to not be able to see. I think I should be able to pull this off over a 10km distance because I was definitely forced to slow down significantly to coordinate with my throws. I’m estimating a 1:40 finish time for that distance with energy to spare. On my last laps, I tried out juggling variations and realized that I didn’t feel like I was exerting more energy than stationary juggling.

I might probably try joggling again but I doubt if I could pull it off at an organized run given that sweaty oafs are pushing and running into me as it is.

I was given a free entry over the weekend for the 10km race at the Army Half Marathon. It was quite strange really – I was running with a Men’s Open tag but started with the 6km fun run crowd because 1) I overslept and 2) I couldn’t find the start point.

My intention had been to start the run at 7, end at a comfortable 8ish, have breakfast before meeting friends for a uni ride at 9. Reality though was hopping off and checking in my unicycle at 730, finally locating the start point at around 745 and running off with this voice in my head telling me I had to finish by 9.

The run was probably more of 10.5km than 10km, maybe more. I finished in about 1:10, ran past the crazy lines at the Women’s baggage collection where hordes of angry sweaty females were waving their number tags at the counters, got my uni and cycled off into the day looking a little deranged with a can of 100plus and a bottle of water in each hand.

Then I got lost and ended up a whole train station further.

I think I should get back to running – at the same run last year I was clocking around that same time over a 21km distance. I also think I should be more conscious of doing things like stretching. My chest feels like it’s giving birth each time I breathe now.