Possible Run - 10km. 

got up at 510am, washed up, had moolabar for breakfast and went off to don's house. went to the race venue together with the hrc people, don and khiiren. we got there pretty early. stretched, warmed up and headed to what the organizers termed as kandang to start the race. 

i didn't manage to stand in front. i lost don and khiiren whilst wiggling through the crowd. the front was packed with people and it was a real competitive field. saw plentiful of elite runners. i saw kim (she got first place in the 100 plus run where i placed 2nd), i saw michelle (she has a great 21km timing), i saw yufang, i saw sheela, a pretty competitive field. 

the race started, and it was uphill right away. the route passed through the infamous double hill, which to me was a 7-hill course. during the first 3km, i had some negative thoughts. i really wanted to stop on the uphill. i thought of giving up. i thought since i had no chance of placing anyways given the competitive field, i might as well stop. but then, one of the runners who was next to me at the start line motioned for me to go on and he ran by my side for an entire km, pacing me to go on. and that is what kept me going. 

there were lots of uphills. i kept kimkhoo and another girl whom beat me in the newton run last year in my line of sight all the way about 150m away. i was weak at the uphills though i could tell. during the run, i kept reminding when coach said, what i want is something special. although i'm not the best runner, but i knew i needed to at least try. the last 3km, i saw that it was going downhill and i thought it was my opportunity. i recalled the time in bukit cinta when i ran downhill with coach. i ran like the wind. during the last 3km, i managed to pass kimkhoo, the newton girl and also colleen, hence placing 9th. if i didn't push, i would have placed only 12th. 

although my placing isn't ideal, but, i was really happy, because i managed to beat people i used to lose to, probably, hopefully shows some improvement on my part? 

managed a 48 minutes 9 seconds timing. not there yet, but i will get there one day. 

congratulations to don who managed 6th place =) and many thanks to mohsein for the moolabar. it forms my daily breakfasts. 

khiiren, faizal, me and don, making up the hrc represent =)

9th place women open

kuojian and golo also came for the run.

the secret training to ironman 70.3

i came to hongkong a couple of days back. they say, even when you travel, you need to train. even more so since i have only 2 weeks left. 

so i managed to cycle in the gym for an hour, a tad bit little but i was busy. on saturday morning, i went over to lantau to do my lsd. i managed a 25km. however, lantau is pretty hilly. whilst running one of the uphill steep portions, i missed a step and my knee crashed into the edge of the stone. i have a tiny blueblack, but straightening my knee is difficult. not sure how long i will be out for, but i hope it will recover real soon. 

so i moved to plan b - my secret, untested training. 

it is called - charsiewbao loading. 

i went over to timhowan, and i went twice because i fell in love with the charsiewbaos. they look normal, but i tell you it is heaven of earth. the bun was baked to perfection, and the filling was oh-so-lovely. i had 5 in one day. so the secret - i tell you - is charsiewbao loading. but remember, it is untested. i'll let you guys know if i make it on the 5th of april. then you guys know what to do. 

okay, so i probably shouldn't have had 5. but oh well. i did. and a whole lot of other stuffs too. 

bye hong kong, it was great. now back to some serious training when i get back. 

pre-ironman 70.3

so today, i managed to majorly psych myself out. so after leaving ironman 70.3 in the far back of my mind for months, today, i decided to look up the details of ironman 70.3. so, i saw the cutoff times and i majorly freaked out. 

my palms turned stone cold. i can feel my heart pounding. it's kind of a i don't know whether i should cry or not feeling. all i can say, today turned into a gloomy dark day for me. it's kind of a i know i'm going to fail, so it's kind of the failing feeling brought forward to today. 

the swim is 1h10 minutes, the bike is 4 hour 5 minutes and 2h 45 minutes for the run segment. at my current level, the biking is completely unattainable. as for the swim, it is kind of a borderline thing for me. 

don't mind me. i'm just drowning in sorrow today. sigh.