Category: Thoughts

Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst

May 19, 2022

visaIt’s 2 months after the submission of my Travel Visa application and I’ve had no news whatsoever. Not a peep. Other than Nick, the other guys from the crew who applied later have gotten theirs. Short of the proof of marathon entry (haven’t registered then), flight and accommodation confirmation which, of course, is contingent on the Visa approval, I’ve provided way more documents than I needed to substantiate that I’m not going to be overstaying as an illegal worker. God forbid, if I’m to work overseas, I’m not going to risk flouting the border/immigration authorities. These are the folks you won’t want to get into the wrong side of, whichever country (including mine) that may be.

Of course, the situation is worse for many others. Read the coverage here. 

As the days and weeks fly by, the chances of making it this year seem that much slimmer. There will not be time for recourse, and that’s that. The question is when will it be too late? A day before? I think the reasonable cut off will have to be sometime Week 3 of June. By then, there would’ve been a lot of miles baked into my body. 6 months of Base Building and actual Training. Admittedly the enthusiasm  has waned somewhat and even if there are still a few weeks left to mid-June, I’m not sure if I should reduce the “seriousness” of this training block, you know, by focusing on the SOS and easing off those easy/recovery days. Weekly mileage will be slightly reduced but I’ll still be able to get some quality workouts in. I just might do that.

If my application is rejected for whatever reason, I’ll have to look elsewhere for a conducive qualifying race. Certified course, cool and flat. My preference is Japan but unfortunately given the still-uncertain nature of their re-opening, it’s highly unlikely we will see foreign non-elites racing there this year. I’ve been scouting the few below – I’ve done Osaka and Nagano some years ago – but Japan is very cautious at this point. 

Osaka Marathon 

  • Doesn’t seem to be a Fall/Winter 2022 edition.
  • Official event FB page is already talking about 2023.

Shizuoka Marathon

  • Mar 13 was to be the 2022 running of the event but it was cancelled. No further mention about a Fall/Winter edition.
  • Official event FB page also posted about the cancellation.

Himeji Marathon 

  • 2022 running was cancelled.
  • No indication of a fully open participation be it late 2022 or 2023 yet.
  • Refund of entry fees on-going. 

Nagano Marathon 

  • Spring 2022 race went ahead. Still too early on 2023 updates.

I ran Nagano in 2014 (race report, minus photos due to discontinuation of photo hosting services) when my goal was much more modest i.e. breaking 4. I was still grasping at marathon training and 8 years on, I believe I can do much better than 4:18. 

Anyways, hoping things will work out fine for Nick and I in time for GCM22, and all these just fodder for our eventual race reports🤷🏽‍♂️. Meanwhile, let me get back to research more racing options.

What Now?

November 28, 2021

IMG_9184~photo-full

The plan was to kick-start my base training in hopes of getting in a race or two in the first half of 2022. After browsing through several plans, I settled on this one from Luke Humphrey Running.

I wanted a short plan hence the 4 weeks, but one that has enough volume such that I can get in some miles. I don’t want my routine to be locked in for too long, this early. Jumping right into a 2-month base plan is too much for me. Marathon training takes a lot of commitment and I’d rather dip into that “commitment bank” when the time comes. For now, repeatable short blocks which can be ramped up in volume or intensity work fine for me.

As far as current fitness goes, I’ve not dropped to the basement level I thought I’d be, surprisingly so. I’m managing my shoulder injury well enough to get in 4 weeks of very gradually increasing my mileage. Within those 4 weeks, I ran a positive split (🤣 but not proud, really) 5K for an Ekiden leg and a 1:46 half (about 4 minutes slower than my PR) in training mode. I’m perfectly happy to close the year off on that note with the very little I’ve put in.

The planned start date for the 4-week plan was supposed to be Nov 29th but that’s still within a week post-booster vaccination for me. The post-Pfizer booster (per the heterogenous vaccination plan) effects only wore off on D+3 and I can’t say I wasn’t tempted to head out for a couple of rounds around the neighbourhood. But the advise posted by medical experts back when the initial vaccination drive took off, was for people to lay off strenuous activities at least for the first week. One thing I’ve learned from this shoulder injury is never downplay even the most conservative advise. This shoulder issue of mine popped out of nowhere and wasn’t even caused by trauma to the area nor any clear causes. One can be fit but you’ll never know what hidden risks one could be harbouring.

With the reported diminishing effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine, I just felt that I should be more prudent after this booster, let the body adapt, recover before getting back into things. To stave off the urge to run, it’s been all about walks for me the past 2 days and I’ve headed out with my wife for a couple of 5-6K walks. With me along, she’s been able to hit close to an hour of walking and I think I should be able to move the dial to the hour mark in a couple of weeks’ time.

With that said, the decision then is to move the start of the base plan by a couple of days and since I was doing that I thought it would be beneficial to some to put up a quick video showing how that’s done on the Final Surge website. At the same time, I manage to get some practice minutes on the video editing software too 😊.

If you’re interested in getting a plan from Final Surge, you’d be happy to know that they’re giving 10% off on every training plan, from now through Monday, Nov. 29th 2021. They’ve plenty of plans from many coaches and cover not only running but multi-sports. No, I’m not paid nor sponsored by them. Just a happy customer since 2017.

Final Surge: https://www.finalsurge.com | Luke Humphrey Running Plans:  https://www.finalsurge.com/coach/LukeHumphreyRunning

Inactivity Hell

October 23, 2021

rebel2_1

10/11 – 3.5km
10/19 – 3km walk with the family around the Cyberjaya Lake
10/21 – 4.4km evening jog 
10/22 – 4.5km evening jog 
10/23 – 4.7km morning jog

Those were the meagre miles I managed to eke out the last 2 weeks. The shoulder condition (see previous post) fluctuates, and there are poor days and there are milder days. I’ve continued to lay off the NSAIDs which put me in a state of mental fog, lethargy and restlessness, something I really could do without on work days. Of course poor sleep hadn’t help.

I knew that as long as I don’t get my sleep back on track, I won’t be able to resolve the other issues. Fix the sleep, get the legs moving, and rehab. When laying off caffeine after 12pm still didn’t bring about any improvements, things had to get physical and by that, I forced myself out of the door. Naturally the left side of my body remained tight and I was wary of my arm swing but my legs felt fine. Running metrics were all over the place but it didn’t matter. In fact, I was so slow I was hardly sweating. The important thing was that I was moving again and did I finally sleep better that night. 

This morning’s run was my 3rd consecutive day of being back at it, and it was an enjoyable one. As with the last couple of outings, the effort was similarly relaxed but the pace was surprisingly quicker. I’ll take that as a win for now. There’s little use of the Velocity, Adios 6, Tempo and Rebel v2 for now, so the OG Rebel and the Rincon 2 are good enough as my go-to’s for these miniscule miles.

Step by step, day by day.

*Updated* My Vaccination Experience

July 12, 2021


After a long wait, I finally received my 1st dose of vaccine last week. Without rehashing the country’s widely lambasted vaccination programme, my appointment on July 7th came 5 months post-registration. Granted, the initial phase was rightly accorded to the frontliners and those at risk but the 2 rounds of AstraZeneca ballots shouldn’t have been an online free-for-all.

My designated vaccination centre was the Movenpick Hotel & Convention Centre. Reports mentioned that the centre vaccinated over 9,000 mostly from the Sepang District where I’m located. July 7th was only the 3rd day the venue was in operations and it was chaotic especially in the wide expanse outside the convention centre gates. Once past the temp scan and QR check-in, proceedings were far more orderly and there were a greater number of volunteers to manage the crowd. You can check out the photos I tweeted.

I had hoped for Pfizer – the country procured Pfizer, AZ and Sinovac – but I would’ve taken anything that’s available. I was just done with waiting! Due to the mess at Movenpick, it took me close to 2 hours from the time we arrived to the time we finally drove home. All in all, a tiring affair but one that provided some measure of relief. I was already unrested going into vaccination day, therefore I wouldn’t attribute the tiredness to the vaccine when I got home that evening.

The next day, the degree of tiredness was much more pronounced,  accompanied by aches and muscle soreness. There was some bloating as well, although I couldn’t be sure if that was caused by the coconut milk in my noodles! There was no fever but I popped a paracetamol tablet at noon just so that I could grab a nap without the discomfort. That didn’t help much that night as the aches and soreness were bad enough to wake me up at 4am. I went downstairs, had 2 cookies and downed two paracetamols which helped. 

A couple of cancelled meetings on Friday were Godsend as I was beyond lethargic (marathon recovery wasn’t this bad!). The bloated feeling was  alleviated only after taking some carbon tabs and ginger drink. Fever remains absent and there was no increase in appetite as reported by earlier recipients of Sinovac which I received. Neither was there any pain at the injection site. It’s five days post-vaccination today and I’m finally all good. This article explains why certain people don’t experience any side effects, if you’re curious to know. 

I’ll have to ensure that I get enough rest leading up to the second dose in three weeks’ time. I believe my tiredness was exacerbated by my prolonged restless nights and I should’ve stuck to “safe” foods, and no dairy/ice-cream post-vaccination. I’ll add on my experience below once the second dose is done. If you’ve yet to be scheduled for yours I hope you’ll be soon!

UPDATE:

I’ve received my 2nd vaccination last week (7/28), 3 weeks after the 1st. This go-around was, thankfully, much smoother than the initial experience. In fact, I was in and out in 20 minutes. There was literally no queue beyond the staging area and I went through the initial screening and appropriate line so quickly that my phone had yet to go into screen-saving mode. Unlike the 1st time, there were plenty of manpower and sign postings at every turn, you’ll have to be Mr Bean to lose your way around. We were also given plenty of heads-up along the way e.g. to ready our app page is turned on, ID cards are ready before we reach each checkpoint.

Due to widely circulated video evidence of injections done the wrong way – wherein, nothing was injected (😱🤬!) – attendees were allowed to video the process, which I did, and I should say the medical personnel readily offered as well. I even spotted the doctor in the cubicle across mine helping the recipient with the camera positioning!

Symptoms were very much milder as well. I slept earlier the day of vaccination as did the day after when I was periodically sleepy. If anything, the arm was mildly sore but nothing significant were noted. The fatigue dissipated by the 3rd day, but I decided to enjoy the downtime and just sleep in. With a short run on Sunday evening that ended up quicker than intended, I can now say that I’ve exited the “side effect window”. The vaccination process is now concluded for my wife and I but my Mom (AstraZeneca) and elder son (Pfizer) will only be having their 2nd jabs on the same day in 2 weeks’ time while the youngest awaits direction from the authorities on vaccination for teens between 11-17 of age. Unfortunately, in view of the aggressive mutation of the virus, I fully expect another round of vaccination exercise in the coming months. I hope you stay mentally and physically well.

Why I Need To Run The 2021 Gold Coast Marathon

April 5, 2021

IMG_7131~photo-fullHope you’re well wherever you are. It’s 2021 and for the 2nd year running, racing the Gold Coast Marathon will not be possible for us over here due to travel restrictions. It’ll be awhile yet before we’re able to do that in-person racing overseas. There have been whispers that limited-participation local physical races may be allowed to return soon, but I think that’s at least a few more months away. As you can see from the video below, virtual races are just not the same as being there, in every sense of the experience. Still, I’d love to support the event which has given me so much good memories since 2011.

I ran last year’s Gold Coast Marathon short of fitness and somehow managed to finish in 3:47-ish and for a few weeks I’ve been undecided on which distance to tackle this year. The Marathon or the Half? Or the 10K?

Since the organizers allow this year’s virtual race to be counted towards the 10-year club – there are 20 and 30-year clubs as well, mind you – I finally committed to the Marathon. No point wasting another year, right? Dragging the body and mind through an actual training is quite unappealing at the moment to be honest, because I’ve gone through the last 1.5 months battling with motivation. The working-from-home arrangement doesn’t see much distinctions between night and day. Expectations and stress levels have been way up and weekends are over too quickly. Back in February 2020, I relished not having to commute to the office but more than a year on, I hated the fact that my home has become an office. “Live to Work” has become quite a bad joke in its accuracy. I even deleted the Facebook app from my phone and tablet because I needed to stay away from that sort of escapism and distractions just so that I can keep myself centred.

The more I realize how much progress were lost last year, the restrictive ways of how we live our lives today, and the continued selfishness of politicians in the country, the angrier I got. The more I want to push back. Do I continue to sit down day in day out, wallowing in frustration, ruing the lost days, spending my days consumed in work stress, OR flipping the bird at the whole thing and just make a go for it. You know, having a purpose to drive at for the next 12 weeks, waking up with a clear PERSONAL (because we need to do something for ourselves and not for others all the time) goal for the day that you own and are in control of, operating in a better mood that only a satisfying 16km morning run can provide and hitting the pillows dead tired at the end of a day well executed?

It will be exponentially harder for sure, but I’m pissed enough feeling dragged down every workday that channelling that aggression to marathon training seem like a better idea. We’ve been bottling that frustration up for more than a year! There are two oft-used quotes (and I’m paraphrasing here) about seeking to be the best version of oneself every day and the difference between happiness and pleasure is that happiness is attained at the end of an arduous struggle. Without a goal, I’m rudderless and just going through the motions. And if I allow the notion that my best days are over to take root, then what’s there to strive for, hence where’s the happiness? Running provides that for me.

I’ve got my basic fitness (and yes, I’ve got plenty of great shoes as well) and that’s a start. Since running a good marathon calls for a lot more mental tenacity than sitting through 4 straight hours of the Snyder Cut, I’m returning to Luke Humphrey Running‘s plan. I’ve executed the “easier” plans for my last 3 marathons leading up to my PR in 2019 but this time around, I’m going to be attempting the “12 Weeks: 80-110KM/Week Marathon (Metric)” Plan. It’s the toughest one yet for me, involving more miles, but over a shorter period – 12 versus the usual 18. There’s yet another quote about doing the very thing that scares you, right? And with that, Final Surge and Coach Luke have owned me yet again, at least for the next 12 weeks.

Day 1 starts April 12 and it gets pretty hectic from the get go. May will see longer Marathon Pace workouts and the start of strength sessions, and June will, of course, see the highest weekly mileage of over 110km before a short taper down to the first weekend of July. I’m not even sure if I’ll make it past the 2nd week but this year is a good time to find out my limitations before actual racing returns. One thing’s for sure – with this much running, there’s a critical need to keep the easy days really easy. My build-up earlier this year was cut short due to a mini burn-out simply because I got carried away with the great progress from December last year. It was obvious that I was running those easy miles at least 25 seconds per km too quick.

You didn’t think I’d be closing this post without any mention of the shoes I’ll be rotating in, do you? With the Novablast retired and the Peg 37 starting to give me some left foot discomfort, I’m breaking out the 8.25oz Rincon 2. They will rotate with the Endorphin Speed (8.55oz), Carbon X2 (8.9oz) whereas the Invincible will function as the Recovery Monday shoe.

I’ve got a few mates who have registered for the Half but hopefully a couple more will lock in the marathon so that we can leverage off each other’s progress. If you’re interested in finding out about the Gold Coast Marathon and how to register for it, head on www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au.

Running in 2021

January 7, 2021

putrajayapark

I initially titled this post, “Running Plans for 2021” but realised that in doing so, I’m setting myself up for disappointment what with the still uncertain situation the world is still in. It still feels like a continuation of 2020 a week into a new calendar actually: Dysfunctional governments are struggling with vaccine deployments, resurgence in the number of cases worldwide, a new more infectious strain found in 32 countries (as reported by NYTimes), and cities and countries locking down once more.

Instead of remaining exasperated and continue to immerse myself in the depressing news, I’ve decided to channel my energies into what I can control.

Here’s what I will do!

  1. Be training. My worst mistake when we were allowed to run outdoors last March was my slow return in getting back into the groove. I suppose I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. With no races, motivation took a massive hit. I didn’t care to recheck my Garmin or Strava activities but I believe I lost 2-3 months of any maintenance mileage then. The good news is, I’ve been working on consistency and gradually rebuilding my fitness since late October and have now progressed to Week 2 of the HMM 8-week base program. When I started out, I focus in only 1 thing – running as often as can. I even went on a couple of 7-10 day streaks during which I headed out even if it was just to jog 2km. 2 months later, I’ve clawed back perhaps 40% of my fitness. I still don’t have the strength to hold a sub-5min/km pace for 12K but I believe that will return with some weeks of faster running. The current cycle will end the week before Chinese New Year (CNY) and I will take a break then before repeating the same base program, but with a slightly increased overall mileage. The 2nd cycle will keep me engaged up to Week 3 of March by which time, hopefully, the situation will be clearer. I will evaluate then if I want to get into a newly purchased high mileage 12-week training plan or a more drawn out 16-week traditional one. If nothing else, all these running will count towards putting miles in the bank. These will not be wasted and will be called upon when the next push finally happens. Running more keeps the mood swings (that just brings everyone you down) in check, and keeps me honest on my goals. On top of the associated mental and physical health benefits of being highly active, being in a training mode also provides me with a sense of purpose in the running that I do. A recent Strength Running podcast hosted by seasoned Coach Jason Fitzgerald covered this subject on being in a state of training > have a listen here..
  2. Be kinder to my body. In self-care and in food intake. Over the years, I’ve cut down on my consumption of sweets. I wasn’t much of a fan of cakes to begin with actually, but I’ve found it hard to resist ice-cream. The good thing is that I’ve also cut off milk-based coffee brewing at home, treating flat whites and cappuccinos as treats only when I’m out, which isn’t a frequent thing at all with these days of limited movement. I’m entertaining the practice of a no-meat day per week, even if I’m the only one in the family to do so. At the same time, I’ve re-considered my footwear options. I shall be more critical in my choices and therefore make less mistakes in purchases. As this body ages, I need to accept that the legs need more pampering (but not at the expense of performance). I need those muscles, tendons and cartilages to continue supporting me as I work harder to improve. Shoes must be versatile, for value considerations, and comfortable enough to operate in a wide range of paces. Instead of having multiple pairs to pull on for different workouts, there are now options out there – shoes that offer great value, performance and comfort. I realized quickly enough that the Evoride, excellent as they were in uptempo paces, were just too harsh on tired legs. And that I wasn’t able to sustain long miles and daily training in the Turbo 2 anymore. This doesn’t mean that my go-to’s henceforth will be plush shoes because I’ve sold my ultra-plush but non-responsive Nimbus Lite. Instead, there are gems out there in the 8-9.1 ounce range that fit my “Value, Performance and Comfort” requirements, Floatride Energy 2, Rincon 2 and Clifton 7 just to name 3 of those.
  3. Be mindful. While that’s not about sitting down in meditation, it’s about devoting more attention to my thoughts. Being conscious about my emotions, being more aware of my thoughts. After all optimum performance is also about what goes on between the ears.
  4. Continue to cut my own hair! This isn’t running related but… No one’s the wiser if I make any mistake in shearing too much off!

That’s it! Not that hard right? Plans should not be convoluted pieces of ideas slapped together anyway. Easily laid out for easy execution. Hope you’ve got your plans in place.

2020 And Working Back My Fitness

November 30, 2020

IMG_0326~photo

It’s been ages since I strung together 5 weeks of consistent running. Fitness really haven’t been the same since my post-Twincity Half injury – I was so disappointed I didn’t bother with a race report – the pandemic hard lockdown, and a couple of knee issues brought about by some over-exuberance in tackling climbs on the bike. But with daily massages and strengthening, the level of aches and pain are down to the point of being very manageable, at least to run. I’m staying off the bike for now, and I’m not going to allow my clumsiness derail any progress I’ve made.

I even went on an 8-day streak last week to establish some routine. The focus was on consistency and not miles at the moment and I’m happy to be running this often.

With mass races still off what with infection cases resurging, planning/training for anything is hard. There are just too many variables and question marks. Many major marathons have already been postponed their events to late 2021. With Tokyo (Oct 17, announcement), Boston (announcement), Berlin (lottery closed, also taking deferred entries), Chicago (Oct 10, tentative), NYC (Week 1 Nov, tentative), London (Oct 3, lottery closed), Osaka (no word yet), and I’m sure many more, October to December 2021 are going to be one heck of a busy period. It all depends on the vaccines and the re-opening of air travel, of course.

The thing is this. On one hand, I don’t want to start out on a new training calendar and burn myself out, not when I’m still working on my base fitness. Conversely, running too little makes returning to a training cycle harder in that the body and mind will require a lengthier bedding in period. Then there are other questions like how will the B.A.A. handle the issue of qualifying times and the validity period? What’s the kind of buffer we need? You could say, “Train to run as fast as you can then” but marathon training doesn’t work that way unfortunately. Sure the objective is to run as fast as one can but marathon training is about consistency and specificity – the right pace done with the right volume. And I don’t want to be stepping on the pedal too hard too soon.

When races do return, I for one do not want to embark on a lengthy training and racing period. 16 weeks is already too long and I don’t run many races a year, am not getting younger, and don’t have a bottomless bank account, I would like to make every effort and investment (in terms of time and money) count. I want to be in a situation where I’m good to go, fresh and reasonably fit to take on the volume and intensity, and appropriately motivated to go on yet another training cycle. Mentally, I need to be able to get into that winning mindset.

I do recognise that to make a decisive BQ attempt, there has to be some focus on volume. I need to be running more, executed as safely as possible. As mentioned earlier, being successful in the marathon is a matter of being event-specific and with 42K to race, it’s unavoidable that training mileage counts. The more the body is able to handle the miles, the better and greater volume the runner can undertake when it’s time to kick off W1D1.  Since I’m a sucker for numbers, I’ve dusted off and refreshed my miserable-looking 2020 mileage tracker (which hasn’t seen any action since Seoul Marathon was called off) with up-to-date data and there can be no better motivation than seeing the line graphs steadily climbing. For now I’m not looking beyond January 2021. I’ve set weekly goals to hit between December and the last week of January.  

Let’s do this.

Footnote:

Virtual Events 2020 (not in sequence)

  1. Gold Coast Marathon Big Four (5K, 10K, Half and Full Marathon)
  2. NN Running Global Virtual Relay (10K)
  3. NYC Virtual Marathon – injured
  4. B.A.A. Finish Strong (5K, 10K both in injured state, Half Marathon post-injury)
  5. Asics Virtual Ekiden 5K – post-injury
  6. Standard Chartered KL Virtual Marathon (Half Marathon)

What’s Next After GCM18?

August 26, 2018

Here’s a quick update on my running. I returned to easy running 6 days post GCM18, with a 4K jog followed by a 10K the following day. Week 2 of August saw some daily commute transition pains which saw my wife and I moving from driving to taking the train. It wasn’t an easy decision even if for many out there it’s the most obvious choice. Surprisingly the new experience proved quite tiring with more standing, climbing and walking but after more than a month at it, I think we’ve adjusted.

In other words, I wasn’t on any training plan between GCM18 and the publication of this post. I just had to ensure that I keep my weight below 60kg and stick to a maintenance of fitness mode. Exercise comprised of plenty of walking, stair-climbing, mobility exercises (mostly involving resistance bands), and running 4 times a week mostly very short distances, at mixed paces. Weekends will see the low tens.

The past 5 weeks’ mileage (in KM) were 29 > 31 > 31 > 32 > 34. I did try to increase the volume to the 40s but found that to be stressful, and that isn’t something I would like my running to be. In this comfortable, no-pressure mode, I was able to keep to a 30K average the past 5 weeks. This week’s mileage should be in the same ballpark.

Tomorrow begins yet another marathon training cycle which will lead up to Macao in December. While I’ve set my 14-week Hansons plan to another aggressive goal time, I’m still undecided on how I’d like to run it. If I do stick to my aggressive goal, then I’m prepared to take it as a chance to learn, taking this as a build up to my 2019 goals. I won’t beat myself up over things and keep things stress-free.

The second option will be to race it on a less aggressive plan. You may have read that I DNF’d the 2017 edition (read the account here), so this year’s return is a bit of a chance to wrap up an unfinished business.

The final option would be to race the Half Marathon. It’s a good course and it will be a PR opportunity. I’ve a bit of time to think about it as Macao entries open only mid September. In any event, there will be something to look forward to every morning from Monday onwards!

Paring Down

July 27, 2017

You know the feeling when you’re pulled from all angles, suffocating under the weight of your commitments and struggling with trying to find a balance? I’ve been in and out of this situation for some time and last year, the inevitable decision was finally made to cut back. I started by giving away items that see only occasional use. Little trinkets, boxes, books, clothes that only add to the clutter are discarded or donated. Finisher medals that hold little meaning to me were donated to a friend collecting for his Medal4Awesomeness Project. I now keep only things that I’ve emotional connection, material belongings that see continued use. In keeping to the spirit of living a leaner life, I also tweaked my diet, eating less and staying mindful of what I eat. That includes being firm and saying no even to the family members. If you’re a Chinese, you’ll know what a big deal that is! And while I’m not a binger, ice-cream has always been my weakness. Even so, I’ve lost much of my cravings for it once I decided to cut down sugary intake. My ice-cream treats are now no more than twice a month and servings no greater than 2 scoops! My tweaked (mind you, they’re not drastic, just staying mindful is what it takes) diet has certainly helped my running. My weight is now holding at 60.6 kg which means it should be easier to transition into marathon training mode next week, compared to pre-GCAM17 training when the scales read 62 kg.

Next up will be the non-renewal of http://www.jamiepang.com domain. Over the past year, I’ve migrated almost all of the important content, those worth keeping, over to this free platform. jamiepang.com will expire September 16 (incidentally Malaysia Day) and by not renewing the domain name and hosting services, I’m saving close to RM900 per annum. It makes perfect sense, since I blog very little these days, with this platform primarily one to keep track of my training.

I’ve also conveyed my intention to resign from my ambassadorial role with Saucony Malaysia. While my tenure has been close to 2 years, I’ve actually been like an unofficial influencer for the brand longer than that. That all my sub-4 marathons were run in the Kinvara says a lot about my affinity to the series.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent a brand and I’m glad knowing that I’m leaving at a stage when the brand awareness is better than ever today, with a team of fun and committed ambassadors continuing their great work. A big thanks to everyone associated with Saucony Malaysia! I’ll still be engaged with the brand for the first August Man running clinic, talking about shoes (of course).

Which brings me to the point of these cut backs – living a leaner and simpler life, so that I can focus on what’s important. And at this point, that’s family, work and my pursuit of running my best. All these cut backs may sound drastic but it really isn’t that hard a decision to make. In order to regain some semblance of control over my life, it’s necessary to pare down. Only by doing so, will I regain the ability to dictate the important things I want to do. My kids need me, my workload is not seeing any relief anytime soon and I need my own time and energy to train. Everything else will be subjected to scrutiny. If they add any value to my goals, I’ll consider. There are more areas to trim for sure, but this is a good start.

I’m writing this post in an exhausted mode. Words elude me, and this post is already longer than I intended. Till the next post…

The Nine Inches

February 15, 2017

“No matter how it’s run, whether it’s uphill, downhill, or flat, a marathon is 26.2 miles, and you have to respect the distance. There are a lot of guys who are going to be in great shape. I just want to run my own race, relax, stay in the mix, and be ready to react. That’s the beauty of racing. You do all your training to prepare the rest of your body, but coach Joe Vigil used to say what counts on race day is the nine inches above your shoulders.”
Meb Keflezighi, 36, winner of the US Olympic Marathon Trials.

Love the quote and I think it resonates on so many levels. Not only would you need some common sense and keep a level head during the race but also in the preparation for the big day. Like many, I’ve been often caught in the thrill of logging workouts after workouts in the name of umm…. working out. The purpose and goal of the workout seemingly lost in the whole scheme of things. It’s an easy vicious cycle to be caught in. Here’s why. After several weeks adjusting to the increased stress of training, the body has finally adjusted. It becomes easier for you to check off the miles, hitting the pace and so on. All well and good.

That’s when things can swing the other way. Unchecked, the body may be stressed to the point where even a 15K feels like late miles in a marathon. The legs may be feeling OK but the heart rate reading is just telling a different story. You find it increasingly difficult to roll out of bed. The niggles are taking longer to go away. You get a bit of the sniffles. Now, you know where this is headed right? You don’t need medical nor physiological explanations to tell you that these are warning signs of burn out. You feel it. Choosing to ignore or ride this wave may not be doing your training or race preps any good. Remember that the pros have a team to make sure they don’t get into this situation, from a coach, a masseuse, dietitian, and the luxury of naps a couple of times a day (in a RunnersWorld article written about their training – will try to look them up again – the Kenyans nap twice a day). Contrast to working stiffs in Malaysia who spend 3 hours a day caught in traffic, long working hours, late dinners, it’s so darn easy to get into a rest/sleep deficit. As dedicated, passionate, hardy and resourceful endurance athletes are, the whole mix is as delicate as a lit match among drums of fuel. There’s the risk of premature peaking to contend with.

It’s 2 Sundays to race day and it’s time to start my own recuperation mode. Last week has been so tiring that I abandoned my plan to run a fast 21K as part of the Brooks Half Marathon simulation as the final long run. Instead, I’ll be taking 2 days off running and thereafter sprinkling a few 8-10K tempos right up to the end of next Sunday. In his marathon taper article Pete Pfitzinger mentioned of a 11-13 mile run the Sunday before the race and it’s certainly something I’ll be doing, provided I’ve rested up.  Hopefully all these will allow me to finish the race on the 26th, as Pfitzinger put it, “pleasantly exhausted” :) .

Originally published: February 12, 2012