The 2/3 Marathon

I - AM - DYING - NOW. lol. Finally, the month of Oct ends and I have just closed Oct's log book with a 28K LSD. *ARGH*. My brain is totally melted now. My legs can't even move. My shoulders feel like they've been pierced. I can't even think straight now. Oh, did I mention the rashes? I look like a zombie now.You would think that I'd be so excited that I've finally done so long but I did say I was aiming 30K today... When I checked back, realised we took a HELL OF A SHORTCUT, around 2K, from Dawson to QW. Sheesh. I wonder if that's good or bad. I mean, I want to do 30K, but now I already feel so burnt out, I wonder if I would have given up had I taken the longer route instead. But anyway, good accomplishment. It's been a long journey...I remember when I shuddered at the thought...

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Indecision

I have lost every bit of motivation to go for gym sessions. Seeing those huge, muscular guys and comparing them to myself is just demoralising. I want to become like that. But more importantly to me, I want to improve my running records. And if I become a buffed up freak, it contradicts my goal cos' adding mass naturally slows me down. That is a given. But seeing my skinny self every time does make me feel insecure and inferior. The most 'in my face' moment is when I actually encounter buff guys who CAN run. That is like, perfection. So either I keep my 'runner's body', i.e. skinny, lean, little muscle, or I buff up and sacrifice my running. Guess the choice is obvious, at least for now. Extremely tired right now! Only had 4 hours of sleep yesterday, and today was packed with...

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A New PR, A Reignited Flame.

The story always turns out this way doesn't it? When I expect things to go wrong, they turn out to be good. Vice versa. Simply put, things that matter hardly ever happens to what I envision. How very trve for today's race!For all it's worth, this is probably the most enjoyable race overall. I set a PR, and hit my target of 46 min. The chip time should be 46:00, and they screwed up our results by displaying the gun time. First of all I gotta say the atmosphere in SG is NOWHERE near KL two weeks ago. The people were just friendlier, the volunteers just livelier, the music just louder and better, and most of all, the KL MC simply owns Singapore's boring duo of Utt and another girl. There wasn't even the fun warm up we got in KL. Once, the MC asked, "Hey! Why do I see people yawning?...

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Just when things were flowing smoothly...SHIT HAPPENS.

I was looking forward to Sunday.I had done my last run on Wednesday, and allowed myself to rest all the way until Sunday. I wasn't going to do any dumb extra exercises to jeopardize my condition.Wednesday passed, Thursday passed.Friday passed.My body was healing, healing, resting. It was 100% all the time. I was going to be more than ready for Sunday. Going to hit a PR. Going in with 100% condition and confidence. Even the haze dropped to moderate. Things were looking good. Then, just as unexpectedly, SHIT HAPPENS. After my first shift today, I accidentally banged my left shin onto the wooden edge of a sofa. *WHAM*! It hurt like F****. But in that instant, I wasn't worried about the physical pain. I was mentally destroyed. The beautiful picture of me running a good race on Sunday...

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Slow Today, Slower Tomorrow?

It's damn tiring to rush back home and have to book in again. But this was the decision I've made. Even though it's something most people don't do. But there's no batch mates to accompany me so it will be too stressful to stay in camp. Finally, Day 2 out of 3 is over.. I am knocked out of emotions...just too tired. And the damn haze...today I felt the difficulty in breathing. It was torturous. Yet our lovely PS still insists we stand. Luckily it has mellowed down to 81 as of now, and hopefully it will go below 50 by Sunday morning. Then we can cheong without any fear. Was pushed to do D1 again. No choice, I'm the newbie, so whatever I say doesn't hold. Time passed very slowly today, it was too awkward. Just relieved it's over. BUT. Tomorrow might be worst, since I'll be...

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What is the World coming to?!

It's a weird day. First, the haze condition is getting worse by the minute. Reports say that it actually hit PSI 108 in Singapore, the highest ever. The is catastrophic news to runners attending the Nike City 10K this Sunday! How is the race going pan out? Even if it still carries on, you think the experience of forcing ourselves to run in 150-200 PSI will be nice? Worse, there will be no chance of hitting PR! This is bad. Well we can only hope that somehow the haze level drops to below 100 or even 50 so that we can run on Sunday peacefully instead of worrying about the haze causing health problems. And is the Haze making people go gaga? Apparently, there are more people getting sick and struggling to breath in the thick smog. Even for us Istana Guards, we have to stand during...

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So near, yet so far.

Yea, we've only got 6 months till' we become corporals. Yea it's only two months to year end. Yea it's only a few days till' Nike Race. Everything seems near depending on how we look at it. This race for me, though it's this weekend, seems so damn far. It's cos' of the 3 days consecutive I must emphasize CONSECUTIVE duties. I know it's going to pass very very slow. Fri and Sat I am dead, I will be doing with all the lao jiao CPLs alone. How's that. It's intimidating, it's pressurizing, and it certainly does not make me feel any better. It's like I have to scale mount everest before I can enjoy my race. Seems like there's been talks about new guys from other platoons wanting to switch over to Istana. And bigger news is that supposedly there will be 'sacrificial lambs' from our platoon...

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An (Almost) Perfect Race

Ahhh...I finally brought myself to blog about the run!!!First and foremost, I did not manage to hit my target of 1:15:00 or top 100...in all honesty that might not have been so bad if my peers had not gave such tough competition. My target of 1:15:00 was earned by someone else, and I admit, it was quite a surprise. Well, obviously people HAVE been training! The race itself was FUN. Definitely the current toughest race to date. Mention the beach part to any participant and you'll know, it was the killer. Like any killer question in an exam, this was it. I, for one, was thoroughly unprepared. Who would have thought the mere 0.4K of sand/beach would be so tough? Not me, at least, how gullible. And I paid dearly! As a result, I had to struggle to run and balance myself, at the same time keep...

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Just As Planned.

Just as Aizen used to say, "Just as planned."Things went well today, and I'm pleasantly surprised everything went according to plan! The run; killed it, the race pack collection; got it, the gym session; better than expected. That is how just a single FREE day can be used so efficiently, with properly planning and diligence. With this in mind, I think it's time I start to cherish my offs instead of taking them for granted. I am sorely bitter though, about having to pay $1.50 to print my confirmation slip, and paying $2 for the short bus ride. I shouldn't be throwing money away like that, and both happened because I wasn't prepared. Ah whatever. Speaking bout' the race pack--it's the SAME as KL's! They only gave extra vouchers which were practically useless since all of them...

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Half of it is over...

Alright, come on! One more day to Friday aka FREE OFF day!After confirmation that the MPEU cohesion is on Nov instead of this friday, I can finally plan my schedule for Friday..!Just one more day of boredom+sian+mundane+sadness+4h standing+6.5h rest and buy food++++...just have to go thru' tomorrow. If nothing goes wrong, we will do a 6K time trial @ 5min/km followed by 4K tempo run, adding up to 10K mileage. This will be EARLY in the morning, maybe 6am. I want to experience what it's like to wake up to a hot cup of coffee and just drag my ass out there and run the sleepiness off. The first steps will be torturous, but I know it will...

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Back to expensive living!

Reached home around 11pm yesterday night. The trip home took much longer than I was told. Which sucks. Anyway, the KL trip was quite enjoyable, though it would have been better to stay there longer. There was so much things we did not do there, like the theme park, the entertainment facilities, sunway lagoon, more shopping, etc. And of course there was the Nike City 10K KL race. I will have an elaborate review up maybe this friday, when my company is rewarded FREE one day off! Overall, I had a bad experience. The most prominent thing was the terribly polluted air that filled the route. Maybe it's been like that all the while, but I am definitely not used to it. I had problems trying to breath and adapt to the dirty air and was on the verge of shutting down at the mere 3K mark. That was...

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And off we go!

I probably should be taking in some sleep now, but somehow I am getting the jitters. Anyway, I should be damn lucky once again. Thought today was going to be a ssslow day in camp, since I don't have off to clear and have to stay till' 5pm, but what do you know, we were rewarded FREE time off! It couldn't have come at a better time, and I could never have foreseen this. It's perfect man, gives me the time to slowly go home and prepare for the trip. Sometimes I wonder is this luck or fate...My stuff is almost ready, and we're just left with a few items to buy. Well, I'd rather be the 'parent' and fuss over what to bring rather than be unprepared...

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Last Minute Preparation...!

We are just one night away from the KL trip! Will be taking off tomorrow midnight by train...I am so relieved that every single shit leading up to this well deserved break has been settled. I mean, I thought I would be able to cruise through the month and the KL trip would be like icing on the cake, but no. This few weeks before the trip has been kinda sucky, but it makes me value it even more. Let's see, from the endless parades and rehearsals to getting minus days offs to almost being unable to collect passport and race pack to having to find replacement for COG to all the hard runs I've had to squeeze in, I have finally reached this day. Hopefully we clear the last hurdle which is the race part, as there is a chance we can't run. The guy collecting our race pack is still uncontactable....

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Oh No, Why NOW???

Oh crap. I have been fighting extreme muscle soreness for the past two days, since Sunday night. I could have not done the SBJ and Shuttle Run training, but heck, I believe it would be worst if I didn't! I wouldn't have known the essential techniques in order to do well enough this Thursday...But they've come at a VERY high price. Meaning, the next day, almost my whole body--lats, arms, core, QUADS (Hurts the most) and even my freaking GLUTES hurt from the effects of the training AND Gym session. I wonder if I've made a mistake by going at such a high intensity of training when it's so near to to IPPT. Didn't expect that my muscles would ache so badly after that. In fact, it's probably the worst aches I've experienced in recent memory. I can't literally move around without looking like an...

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Elite Hoot!

Oh YEs, I finally got myself a 2XU compression tights!!!It cost me nearly $100 but this is an investment worth spending! I am so looking forward to my next run wearing this elite tights man! It felt really good and the compression was really evident. This is my first 'high end' running merchandise so I'm pretty excited YEA. Wasn't even expecting the get it today but hey, since I was going to get it anyway why not now?Finally...I am starting to look like a runner. I have all the gear ready. But I have yet to complete my marathon...Only when I complete my first marathon will I truly consider myself a RUNNER!...

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A Look into Oct Races

October is gonna be a real busy month for me! I'm actually taking part in THREE races this month, and with the added dutys, parades and stuff, I'm going to find it challenging to properly time-manage. That said, however, it's probably going to be the most exciting time of the year. THREE races--Nike city 10k KL, New Balance Real Run 2010, Nike city 10k SG. Three races in three weeks, back to back weekends. It's going to be hectic I forsee, but I am lucky my duty schedules is all properly planned out and if nothing goes wrong, I am going to be well prepared for all of them. Nike City 10k Race (Kuala Lumpur) (10K Under 25)This one is quite an outrageous initiative, but I thought it would be fun. Moreover, I can use this time to go for KL trip also, so we're killing two birds with one...

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