She was the only female in a team of 9 core runners that participated in the 218km Run Around Singapore event to commemorate the 55th anniversary of NIE/NTU. She has always loved running, and to be given a chance to run around Singapore with vehicular and police support, why not?

Along the way, she was crowned the local female athlete to cover the longest distance! It was also her personal furthest distance covered and longest time on her feet. Quite a feat heh?

Although she stopped at 130km, she is grand enough to be my hero. She always has been. I knew she would not have stopped unless she was in a serious amount of pain. Indeed, her feet, that have been plaguing her lately, came back to gnaw at her.

Be proud of yourself lady. You did awesome!

(photo: Lynn Lee)

What is this for? What distances are these people doing? Where do they run? Who organizes this?

This particular conversation, as with any curious park user, was no different. You can still see the youth in her, likely to be in her late 20s or early 30s, she arrived on a bicycle. You could see she was enjoying the beautiful spring day and loved being out there.

However, she honestly would prefer to run instead of ride. Ran a particular road half marathon a couple of years ago and hurt her feet. Collapsed arches was the diagnosis. As she stood there narrating her pain in the feet and frustration of seeing professionals after professionals to no avail, her eagerness to get well again so she could go back to “running 5mi everyday”, I could not help but empathize.

It must suck to be unable to do something as simple as walk, run or ride without pain. She obviously loved running and to be denied that ability must thoroughly hurt. I have been there before with my ITB syndrome and now this chronic hamstring/glut injury from a cycling incident 18 months ago. Although it has not stopped me from running YET, it has definitely debilitated my running. It is always there.

She wanted me to think of her, to think of her whenever I ran, to appreciate that I could do what she would love to do but could not.

After a week, I was still thinking of her. Think of her.

More basketball on tv for now.

Even the animals are thrilled by the abundance of sunshine. May, who has lived with us for 3 months now, has a newly acquired pastime. In the afternoons when the sun pours in through the window, she hops onto the ledge for some vitamin D. The funniest thing is, she overheats in a few minutes and groggily plops onto the floor, sprawls out in an un-lady-like manner in an attempt to cool down.

Then she goes and do it all over again…

Sure, aren’t we all in awe by the über quick ones that are long gone before the rest of us can finish saying our “prayer” when the race director says, “Go!” It is amazing to witness raw talent and hard work at play but honestly, I have found my new heros.

There is E/N. He looks like any 62 year old plodding along in our races, usually coming in last and smiling as we cheered. So what? You see, E/N is diabetic or should I say, was. He was overweight, wait, obese would be more apt for an ex-<400lb-er, not that I had seen him then. One day, he decided enough was enough, he needed to get his life back before he lost it. Hence, E/N lost over 200lb of weight and began running. He literally ran for his life. If you look at him now, you will never believe he is sans a few toes and running marathons almost every week.

We had a chat before I ran my first ever marathon at our Redwood Park Trail Run. It was so cool to be able to trade places for the day, him working the finish as a volunteer and I, a plodding runner. He said something that hit me. He keeps running because as a younger fellow, he never ‘followed through” on things. With running, he has found the satisfaction and motivation to “follow through”. I guess that is someone who appreciates the new life that has given him new opportunities.

Throughout the run, I was contemplating our conversation. I could never find the right words to explain my bizarre relationship with running. How could I do something repeatedly if I hated disliked was adversed to it? The truth was enlightening. Whether I finished the run solely depended on moi, no one else to blame. The satisfaction of willing myself to “follow through” the run despite all sorts of negative thoughts acted as the motivation that kept me coming back for more.

If E/N can follow through his recovery and I can follow through in my runs, I can definitely try to follow through for everything else in my life. No harm trying?

Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to inflict pain on oneself as a birthday treat?

Well, I got my wish. It arrived last night…

H.U.R.T. 100

Now to stay healthy till then.

Hawaii, here I come!

100 miles = approx 160 km = approx 3.8 marathons

They say there is a fine line between stupidity and courage. I must have leaned way over to the dark side and lost my balance. Sure, people sign up for races 10 days before race day, no big deal. To sign up well knowing that this lazy piece of s*** of a body has been slacking since the Miwok 100k in May? Not wise.

Hence, when them legs surrendered at the beating after 65 miles, I had to suck it up quietly and turn to the brain for help. Don’t they say it is all mental? However, when the brain shut down at mile 90, you know you are in trouble. Mental? Yes, you TURN mental, I was there (to spare myself the embarrassment, I shall not describe anything in details here, I shall resign to reliving it through my nightmares).

Take a step, will you? Take another. Yes, that’s the way. Good job! Step by step, little baby steps. Now, let’s try a little shuffle, just a little. Left, right, left, right… that’s the way! (Then BAM!) ENOUGH! No more running, from now on, walking is all we are doing. Alright, whatever you wish, as long as we keep moving.

I had that conversation played in my head over and over throughout the last 25 miles. I thought I had gone mad.

At the finish, this explains it all…

Despite venturing to the deepest gorge of my lows, there was plenty I ought to be thankful for.

Getting to know myself better. When have I ever spent 29h+ with me and myself? Talking exclusively and providing undivided attention and pain to?

A fabulous first 65 miles because I now finally understand what runner’s high is. Unfortunately, I had to learn it the hard way, realising what it was only after it had worn off… Ouch.

You can still sense the runner’s high at mile 50

No stomach issues during the run. I have heard terrible stories of runners not being able to keep food down, puking every few miles and running out of energy. This snobbish stomach took in none of the things I had packed in the drop bags (goldfish crackers, bagels and dried fruits) and selectively went for Theresa’s delicious quesadillas, and the greasy pizzas. Oh, and only margarita flavored clif bloc would please. In the bottle? Lots of ice!!!

4 pathetic blisters to which the biggest had my friend condescendingly snot,” SO TINY!” I was pretty sure something would rub too much in the shoes over such a long time, I could only trust the hydropel and injinjis. Those, in addition to my faithful feet, saved me from pain I could hardly imagine.

Trusty La Sportiva Fireblade. They have always been second to the Wildcat when it comes to going the distance, NOT ANYMORE. Everyone, I am a believer now. Give me them Fireblade! Anytime.

Running skirt. No way am I going back to shorts. What else should I add to my black, blue, green, pink and white collection?

A finish. Nothing worth cheering about but I FINISHED despite being severly un under-trained. What more can I ask for?

What have I learnt?

Put sunblock on the scalp (?). How? I don’t know? Yes, for the first time, I wore a visor and am now left terribly sore right on top.

Slap on a tonne of lub on the back and sides. I am so chafed it looks like rope burn… Not very pretty.

Despite being ravenous at the finish, watch what you put into that mouth, make sure it is not bad or… you would spend the next few days not being able to put anything else in, blah!

Train. Not that it would have reduced the torment, but at least I would have a reason to kick myself when the brain wanted to stop the legs from moving. You are trained b******, GET MOVING! would be my pick up line.

Would I do another one?

If you had asked me anytime between mile 75 to the finish through the couple of days after, it would have been a resounding NO. It was so disgusting I had to turn away when I saw a jogger on the road on my way home. Yikes!

*blush*

Well, it has since been 5 days and sleeping till the sun hung high really helped me regroup.

So, once the swelling on the self-diagnosed anterior tibial tendonitis goes down (fingers crossed), I should be good to go for my next adventure, Plain.

Wish me luck!

Trying not to keel over but I DID IT!

looking back, the desire was to “burn my shoes and get fat” should i complete the miwok 100k. now that i actually have, am i fulfilling my promise?

them shoes i have not burned. they were in bad enough shape with mud plastered stubbornly all round. it is fortunate that i find myself to be more of a mule than the mud and have since gotten most of it off. the wildcats are no longer a perfect white but i still adore them.

the pair of injinji-s i dumped. visualise soaked, dark brown, funky smelling toe socks, all 10 toes staring back at you… yes, despite being cheap (i wear stuff till they rot) and nostalgic (they were one of the 5 pairs marching the gobi desert with me), i have decided to rest them in peace. they have served me more than well.

as for getting fat, i must have contracted the “aid station syndrome”. all i was craving for were chips, salty, fatty, unhealthy chips. i have gone through 3 big packs since saturday. yes, fat, i am getting there indeed.

blisters. surviving the gobi march without blisters really pissed some people off. i am really blessed to have accomodating feet. when it got so wet during miwok, i began to wonder if it was foolish to have abandoned the hydropel route. amazingly, a 100k without any liquid filled sacs. thank you feet.

them rubbing went to my rib cage though. being soaked to the skin, the sports bra chafed its way around my rib cage. ouch ouch ouch in the shower i went, it was the most painful thing of the race. this is a first so now i will remember to lube the hot spots or maybe i should just dump the top.

recovery. after finishing feeling really strong on saturday, i could and actually had time to head out on my legs to dinner. sure they were tightening and heavy but hey, i did just run 100k of ups and downs, it was reasonable to be moaning here and there. got up at a pretty decent time sunday morning and found them legs still moving. took the day off from any form of fat burning activity and only began swimming on monday then tuesday.

finally, it was time to feel them legs up. and feeling good they were! it was bizarre! 5 miles along the streets of san francisco they went, starting and stopping to lights, left and right, on and off pavement, throw in russian hill on lombard street TWICE for good measure. oh yeah, them babies are a-ok. alright, the hamstrings did feel tight but i am more than satisfied at how they are recovering.

i will give myself a few more days to ride the euphoria. then, as i have said earlier, it is time to move on.

more chips?

i am glad i did it. it turned out to be my best race ever.

with cumulative gains of over 10000ft, it was never intended to be an easy course. on top of that, the weather this year didnt quite cooperate. aptly expressed by a friend from bc, it felt like he had travelled all this way to sunny california only to find himself back running on the trails of north vancouver.

the whole race was run in fog that intimately engulfed, rain that skin-soaked, mud that sucked and caked, wind that howled. there came a point when i seriously thought i was close to hypothemia with my knee knacker tee stuck to my skin. i must have looked pathetic until a fellow runner generously gave me his windbreaker (he was using a trash bag). fortunately for me, an angel appeared with my windbreaker and a dry tee at the next aid station.

there was no stomach upset and no pain from the usual suspects. i remember great times spent blasting downhills, consistent pace on the flats and focused hikes uphills. time flies by when you feel strong.

honestly, getting back to the finish before sundown had always been the goal. hence, it still has not sunk in that i had done it in 12:31h.

12:31h??!!

anyway, if you prefer a better write up about the race: miwok