Warm up

4×100m (50m free, 50m back) on 15sec rest
2×200m (25m drill, 25 swim, 25m scull, 25m swim, 100m swim) on 15sec rest
8×50m (15m no breather, 35m swim) on 10sec rest

Main set

6×400m aerobic swim on 15sec rest
(timings were 7:04-7:08)

Cool down

3×4x50m (15m underwater kick, 35m swim, 15m sprint, 35m swim, 10sec kick against wall, 15m sprint, 35m swim, 15m no breather, 35m swim)

200m cool down (well I didn’t do this cos I had to cycle to work)

Total = 4.2k

And then having to make a speech on stage and giving away the individual 4th to 10th place prizes for both the 5km and 10km cats was pretty weird. Most of the winners I’ve known for ages in the running scene, many of whom I’ve shared the stage with (as a winning participant). To shake their hands and congratulate them was totally surreal…

As for my own race, I did the 5K and demonstrated what a lack of short course racing can do to you. I led the first K or so and kept thinking to myself, “This is so wrong”. True enough, I soon got passed. Was still in a pretty decent position (5th) till the last 1.5K when the legs started to give way. Was so happy to pass the line, good enough for 10th (not eligible for a prize and rightly so). Pace wise, it was faster than my usual tempo pace (about 4.20/k), so I can’t complain. 5Ks are not my forte anyway. Though I’m pretty sure that if I started just a little slower I’d have done much better. That, and tapered for the race! Haha.

Overall I think it was a well organised race and judging by the feedback on the Shape Facebook page, we made a lot of people happy too. Great job to the Shape team for all their effort.

The world and european indoor champion reportedly drank red bull and vodka just before the Lausanne meet, after fighting with his girlfriend and also failing to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. For that he got slapped with a one-year ban.

Well, he’s back and back to his floaty best. Here’s his amazing 2.40m clearance last year.

Warm up

4×100m swim on 15 sec rest
4×100m (15m underwater kick, 35m swim) on 15 sec rest
8×50m (25m drill, 25m swim) on 10 sec rest

Main set

10×300m swim with paddles on 15 sec rest

Cool down

4×50m (15m sprint, 20m easy, 15m sprint) no rest
200m easy

Total =  4.6k

Jay Chou concert tix 2010 for $4.80?!

Nintendo DS Lite for $13.35???

Only at this website… check it out!

(It’s not a scam, I promise… it’s a friend’s new thang I’m trying to support!)

UPDATE: I just won the auction for Bose In-Ear Headphones! Actual price of headphones $180. I won the auction at $13.80, using $9.75 in bids, so that’s $23.55 for $180 earphones! 86% off!!!

Yes, I have still been training. After the disappointment (am over it) at the Sundown Ultra, I started training again seriously about a month later, albeit I did a “fun” race two weeks later, the Laguna Phuket half marathon (it was for work) and came in second in my age group. I then signed up for the Army Half Marathon on a whim, and am following a 10-week training plan for it now. Just running three times a week. Monday — track, Wed — tempo, whatever other day — easy.

I’ve been swimming more often too — that is, twice a week. But real quality stuff with SportInc. Gary, Gerald and until not long ago, Milo (he’s gone back to Mexico) are awesome coaches and I’d recommend anyone who wants to improve their swim to join their adult classes. Case in point: when I first started with them about end March, I couldn’t hit 1.45 pace for a few 100s. Last Friday we did a 1.5k time trial and I clocked in at 25.27. Now, I’m not saying that is fast, but it is an improvement for someone who only swims a maximum of twice a week.

The boyfriend bought me a Garmin 405CX for our 2.5 years anniversary a couple of weeks ago and I’m really enjoying being a geek, admiring the stats and splits and stuff. You can check them out here. Once again, nothing super fast but I love how I can view and track my training and improvement.

Lots of work ahead. The Shape Run this weekend (see you there!), planning a 16-week marathon training plan (and clinics) together with Racer’s Toolbox for my running column, the usual grind at the mag (let me know if you’d like to see anything in Shape!)… lots of things to do, too little time.

I’ll try to update more in future. No promises but I’ll try! Have a good week ahead.

That plus you don’t wanna screw this new thing up, ya know? You gotta put your heart, mind and soul into it. LIke signing up for an ultra. You can’t rock up on the day with no prep before. You need to invest — time, sweat, tears.

And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past month and 10 days. Workin my butt off at the new job (please support Shape mag!), while juggling tough training weeks for tomorrow’s Sundown Ultra.

A three-peat. Of course I’m going for it, but in a sense, I’m not going at it. Because I believe you can’t control how fast the others are gonna run (and my, there’s some good competition this year). All I can say is I will do my best, I’ll run my heart out, I’ll push every muscle in my body… and leave the rest to God. Two is a mighty fine record already if you ask me… three will be sweet, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m defo not gonna beat myself up over it.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6

russelwongphoto.blogspot.com

Russ’ Paris Roubaix snaps and more on his personal blog. Nice work if you can get it!

Speakin of work, the dust hasn’t settled on my side yet. But I sense I’m catching on, slowly! Hopefully more updates on this blog soon. On the training front, am doing my hardest week before I begin tapering for Sundown. I know, it’s a pretty long way out but when I say “taper” it means three-hour runs instead of six, and more short, fast runs. It’s still gonna hurt but once I get this week over, the feeling of being on the home straight will be sooooo schweet.

But let me leave you with some memories from our cycling trip in Phuket over Easter. Five days, four nights, 255km of biking, 30min of swimming, 45min of running and many hearty meals and wonderful drinks.

Will update this blog more regularly when I settle in!

Am now waiting for our flight to Phuket for a weekend of swimmin (wee bit), cyclin (quite a bit) and runnin (just a bit, I ran 90km last week and this is my easy running week) with a bunch of good friends. This is my idea of a great holiday.

Anyway, here are some snappies from the race.