I've never felt so cared for pre-race! Ok, ok, maybe that is a big lie - last year my wonderful husband and coach organised a surprise school announcement over their loud-speaker system, thus probably confusing every student in every class, until our teacher friend chimed in and followed him with a translation of his speech (something along the lines of this being a prestigious event and that we wish her all the best etc - worst wife ever, I had chosen this inopportune moment to duck back to our apartment to use the loo and missed it!). This was then followed by an impromptu ceremony in the school boardroom and I was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a small speech from the school's Dean and a mini photo shoot took place. Not sure what happened to the official photos but here's one of the beautiful, surprise flowers:

So, I sure felt special and cared for last year. I feel equally cared for this year. Yesterday those caring organisers sent me another text message re: Sunday's race. It reads as follows:

"Dear runners, please obtain Vitamin A, B, AND have more carbohydrate before the race. If you feel suppression in the chest or hard to breathe during the race, please slow down your pace to relieve anoxia symptoms. If it doesn't work, please withdraw immediately OR ask the referees n volunteers near u for help."

Pretty caring hey. Should I be worried? They seem to be...

Looking forward to my text message today. How about a cheery: "Yay, it's only 3 days to go, get excited dear runners!"

This morning was my LAST scheduled training run, woohoo! Was another 5km run. Took about 22 minutes (again, always say about and ish as I'm going off clocks en route, and have no specific running instrument yet, so I hope I'm right about the timings and distance - I use mapmyrun a lot to work out routes and distances). Now, I'm going to do some
 yoga, drink copious green tea, and go and teach hundreds of teenagers about computer terminology in English. Have a thrilling Thursday everyone!

I have never gotten a text from the race organisers before an event before, but yesterday I received this beauty of a precautionary text message, it reads:

"Shanghai International Marathon Organizing Committee: Dear runners, it's five days away from the race. Please make a self-assessment on this rest day. Do u feel well recently? Do u catch a cold or have a fever? Do u keep training regularly? Pls make a final check according to the Eligibility that specifies people unfit to run the race. Caring life is everyone's responsibility."

I am happy to report: yes, no, and YES!  in answer to their caring (worried?) questions.

This is also the only event I've ever entered where you have to have had a proven recent health examination complete with doctor's signatures etc before you can even finalise registering. Has anyone else ever had to get a health certificate before they could participate in a race?

Today is a non-running day. So far I have slept in and lounged around a fair bit, having mentally relegated my cross-training session to after work now, but am hoping it will still happen. Might do a Hasfit workout followed by some yoga and stretching.

Cloudy and cold here today, not a very inspiring Wednesday, hey-ho... As the kind and caring race organisers pointed out yesterday, now only 4 days to go! Bit nervous now...

Good morning all! (Or afternoon for some). I trust everyone will have a fabulous Tuesday.

Today's scheduled run was a quick 5km run. This took me about 20 minutes, and when I got back I felt distinctly unsatisfied, and kind of like I've just warmed up and was now ready for action. Now, don't get me wrong, the quickie has its time and place (nowt wrong with the occasional quickie), its just that this morning it left me wanting more...

So, I did a 30 minutes kick-boxing workout when I got back. No extra running = training schedule still on track = feeling awesome = only 1 more training run til the race!

I was worried last night that I may have made a silly mistake and agreed that it's an awesome idea to go and climb a mountain at the edge of our city on a Monday late arvo after work when it's only 6 days away from an event that I've been preparing for diligently for months, as after said mountain climb (hundreds of steps steep enough and precarious enough to rival that of the Great Wall - hence we have nicknamed it the Great Wall of Yiwu, our city) I had that shaky/wobbly leg thing
going on. But it seems that a self-administered calf massage followed by a HUGE plate of vegetable dumplings, a cucumber and rice noodle salad, coconut juice, and, later on, dark chocolate, has fixed any would-be achiness or injury. Turns out it was an awesome idea (thanks Husband!), and it provided us with an amazing view of the city and the mountains surrounding it on what was a clear, crisp evening.

Have a tops Tuesday now won't you.

Woohoo! 6 days to go people. Pretty pumped. Anyhoo...

Today's run (the last speed workout of the program and last time at the track, yay!) was as follows: 2km warm up, 8 x 100m intervals with full recovery in between, then 2km cool down. Felt good. Not much more to say about this.

Have a marvellous Monday everyone!

This morning’s run was WONDERFUL. One of those really great, endorphin-filled runs where all is right in the world and everything seems to become clear. It was a 14km ish run at endurance pace. Some of it I ran faster and some of it was slower. Overall is took me about an hour and ten minutes, and not even the dreary, grey, starting-to-drizzle early morning could bring me down. Seriously the best feeling is to go for a good, long (ish) run and feel strong and powerful; best way to start the day - ok, yes, there is one better way, but that would be for a very different blog. Maybe stay tuned for my forthcoming (will I ever finish it?) work of trashy fiction if you’d rather read about that instead…

I had intended to run the whole thing at a very slow pace (as per some advice I had read about your longer training runs for the week), however after slowing down or even after having to stop at traffic lights, as soon as my mind starts to wander and I don’t consciously ‘think’ about pace, then my speed increases slightly to my usual, comfortable running pace. I suppose then, that people have a set-pace, much like the body has a set weight, that it strives to keep you at, no matter if you eat more on one day and less on another. So, I don’t go much slower than my happy pace, nor do I go much above it, and when I am happily running in my ‘zone’ then this is my natural, set-pace. Sometimes when I’m trying to run a little bit slower, for example, when the training program dictates ‘recovery pace’ I try to conjure up Joanna Rohrback and her excellent  ‘Prancercise’ (have a look on youtube, you won’t regret it), and try to emulate the ‘Prancercise Gallop’, although with a lot less (or none at all!) camel-toe. But, without fail, I forget after a few minutes of going at a slower pace.

So, running pace is one of the many thoughts that crossed my mind as I ran this morning. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Here are a few more:

1)     
How amazing our bodies truly are. They can always do so much more than we seem to believe or think. While, yes, sometimes, we may wish for them to be different for aesthetic purposes (i.e. longer legs, bigger boobs etc.) that actually, if we are lucky enough to be healthy and injury free (fingers crossed this remains a constant), then what our bodies can do for us is nothing short of incredible. They really are amazing machines and vehicles for carrying us through our experiences in this particular lifetime. This then led me on to thinking about wait, if we think our bodies are incredible (and really, there’s nothing like the feeling of seeing just what your own body can do – push the limits and try a new experience for your body,
like an endurance race, or nice long climb or hike somewhere, or even surfing or sky-diving for the first time), then just think how awesome our MINDS are:

 2)     
I think if more people spend their time having their own amazing experiences, and seeing just how powerful their own minds
(together with their bodies) can be, instead of getting caught up in the artificial construct of all the bullshit like money, buying things, selling things, controlling people, being controlled, government, politics, raping the world’s resources, wars and destruction etc, and focused instead on their own minds and of living and loving, then the world would be a far happier, peaceful, loving place to live in, in this short time that we are here.
 
3)     
Point in case re: being controlled and being told what you can and can’t do. Think about this: why is it that alcohol, one of the
worst, most destructive drugs there is, is not only legal, but is widespread and pushed as the ultimate downtime from people’s stressful ‘working weeks’ and is seen as the perfect accompaniment to having time off? When, other, much healthier, ‘drugs’ (such as: MDMA, cannabis, mushrooms/trips, or DMT) that lead to amazing, loving experiences, with nowhere near the adverse side effects of booze, are classed as illegal and dangerous? Could it be, perhaps, that the
powers-that-be (more bullshit hey) do not want people to have these experiences and to be able to open their minds? To achieve an experience that allows people to wonder at what more there could be to life, or that the illusion they’ve been sold their whole lives is just that, an illusion? Now, I’m not advocating the use of any drug here by the way, and I think everyone should be able to make their own choice re: what they choose to put into their bodies and experience, but it seems to me there a huge dichotomy between the way people would like to be living their life and the way we are conditioned to think that we ‘should’ be living.
Think about this: people could be loving each other, having amazing, visionary experiences, and achieving all of this from that which is within themselves already (divinity residing within you never sounded so true hey), i.e. it is widely acknowledged that trips ‘open up your mind’ and allow you to see things that your mind usually cannot (so, maybe these things are ALWAYS there, it is just we cannot usually access them with our limited senses and abilities), and yes, when you take a pill or some MDMA it is your own serotonin whose reuptake is blocked that leads to the amazing, enlightened, all-encompassing loving feeling that follows. However, when you imbibe that omnipresent alcohol, it is an external poison, a depressant, a very temporary illusion that is hard to recall in detail as soon as the poison is broken down and the body has gotten rid  of it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                Hmm, so internal/wonderful/loving/happy/psychedelic experiences versus external poison/depressing/vomit-inducing/highly-calorific, oh yes and highly taxed (i.e. government and powers-that-be earn a lot of money from it!) substance?? Remind me again why one is legal and the other (usually natural, plant based) is so wrong???

 4)     
The song from the Lion King where Simba ‘just can’t wait to be King!’ has been intermittently surfacing and recirculating in
my mind in between thoughts as I ran - seems to be stuck on repeat, owing to my using clips from this film in my lessons this week. 
 

Whew, and those were just a few of the many thoughts of today. Apologies to those I have bored or turned off my blog completely. (Running as meditation or as thinking time anyone?) For those who may still be reading (thanks for sticking with me thus far), back to business:
 
Yesterday was my rest day for the week. I had a lie in (yes!) and finally got round to watching one of those running movies recommended in response to my query (thanks heaps Kristina!) – I watched the documentary ‘The Spirit of the Marathon’, and it was great. Made me want to get out there and run though, so I advise watching it the night before a run or on a non-rest day hey. The rest of the day was spent: playing an hour and half ish of ping-pong with some friends, followed by the requisite big lunch of many shared dishes (with the lazy Susan doing the hard work in the centre), then lots of cooking and eating for most of the afternoon and evening, and we ended our Saturday with some beautiful melon ice-cream and dark chocolate. 
 
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, wherever you may be – have a good one and have fun.

After yesterday's freezing cold morning (yep, these three layered runs are becoming a bit of a regular thing now), it actually turned into a gorgeous, sunny (almost hot) day here. So, after work we headed out on our bicycles to a local park so that Puppy could run around and we could lay on the grass for a bit (felt SO good hey). We realised as soon as we got out the door and into the glorious sunshine that her newly purchased, super-stylin puppy jacket wasn't needed, but here's a couple of 'just-because' shots of her in it (just because she's so f'kin cute!):

As soon as we could, our respective jacket/shoes/boots came straight off for some prime time feel-the-grass action:

Seriously. Haven't tried just lying on the grass lately? Give it a whirl. Feels pretty amazeballs.

Here is Puppy expressing just how good it feels (we call her the dog of many faces - here's her best 'pissing-myself-with-laughter-as-am-thrilled-to-be-at-the-park' face):

And yes, an extra 'just because' shot of the autumnal colours of the leaves changing colour (had to get this before it is too late and they start to fall):

And back to some running musings now: Today I ran a 9km (ish) endurance pace run. It took 40 minutes. So, think that's roughly the same pace as yesterday's run. Hopefully, I can repeat this on race day. Felt pretty strong today and like I could have kept on running for many more kilometres, so that's a good sign. Also, I read a great quote yesterday, and wish I could remember who by or where I saw it, as my paraphrasing of it here is going to be much less eloquent, but here goes: it was something along the lines of that humans need and love to 'play' and that running is just a form of play, even when we try to be really good at it. This concept really made me smile at points during my run this morning, and I reflected on my 9km of playtime before the day really starts. This is getting added to my mental log of running mantras now, and whenever things seem tough or I get a little tired, I'll try to remember that it's all just playing anyway, and not to take it so seriously.

So, have a fookin fantastic Friday everyone, filled with fun times and PLAYING.

This morning's run was an 8km endurance pace run, that took about 35-36 minutes. So, all this training to get a faster result at the race on 1st December, and it seems I am not getting faster, or not by much anyhow. This was about  4.5km/min pace, so that means if I run at this pace for the whole race it will take me about 1 hour 34 minutes. Ok, ok, that IS still about 10 minutes faster than my previous (and best) time from last year, so actually I would be very happy with this result. BUT, what if I could go even faster? And get closer to 1:30, or dare I even put it out there, 1:25?? Stoked would be an understatement. So, I am thinking about running the first 11 ish kilometres at this morning's pace, and then stepping it up to about 4km/min for the remaining ten kms. Really hope I can do this on the day!

Maybe I should just forget about the timing aspect of it altogether and just focus on the fun and amazing atmosphere of the race through the streets of Shanghai. After all, I am doing it for my love of running (ok yes, AND for the medal, certificate and race t-shirt). So, it shouldn't matter what my time is (although a voice in my head says it does!).

I will try not to think about my expectations on the day. That way if I smash them, I will be THRILLED, and if I don't, then I will still be happy. As my excellent coach/husband reminded me yesterday: I didn't ever expect to win the Great Wall half marathon, I only wanted to finish the course within the time limit, but then an amazing thing happened and I somehow did (still don't know how). So, I will see what happens on the day, and leave it up to the running gods (or training gods?) to decide.

(Disclaimer: these are more than likely NOT running/training gods, and are used here for imaginative purposes only:)

(These were taken at a nearby temple just at the edge of our city, at the foot of some mountains.)

Yesterday's run = 7km easy recovery pace early morning run, followed by about 45 mins yoga (i.e. stretching).

Today = no running. Will be strength training / cross training. Probably do a bit of kick-boxing, as I find that really fun and reminiscent of going to kickboxing classes about 11 years ago (my good friend and I, at 18 ish years old, were somehow in the 9-10 year old class on a Friday evening - they had some serious moves! Was loads of fun. Yes, we did get up to a whole RED belt! be impressed haha....). Will also try to do some body weight training or maybe some moves with some barbells. Who knows...

Something happened the other day. Was weirdly annoyed and angry in general. At everything. And anyone. Then we ate lunch (amazing buffet of different vegetable dishes and rice at the equivalent of a Chinese fast food place) and hey presto = anger gone. So, apparently, when I am hungry, I am a little angry?? I believe this is coined as 'Hangry' hey.

Does anyone else suffer from Hanger? Is this just a female issue, or do any men suffer from it too? My poor, enduring coach/husband, what he has to go through...

Here's to a wonderful Wednesday! Happy running/training/whatever you're up to!

Ps - This is where I am aching to be this morning, beautiful Lembongan Island:

Yup, THIRTEEN days til the race! Feels pretty close / exciting / scary now. :) Can't wait for 1st December!

Another very cold, early morning training session today. The moon was still very much out, and so half of my run was lit by the powerful, magical bright yellow shine of the (full) moon. Was a bit mesmerising and distracting though as I kept staring at the moon as I completed my loops on the track, and had to remind myself to look where I was running (i.e. not trip and fall in the dark).

Today's training was as follows: 2km warm up, 1600m tempo (half marathon race pace), 400m jog in between, 1600m tempo again, then 2km cool down. Followed by: getting under every blanket/doona/duvet that we own in an attempt to warm back up, breakfast, shower, and a back-into-bed-power-nap. Monday mornings are GREAT, don't you think? :) 

Yesterday was, you guessed it, my REST day, and it was great. Although, turned out to be an actively resting day where we cycled around to do some errands (and drink coffee) for a lot of it, plus the usual dog walking and house work. But no running anyhow.

Did spend a lot of time researching jobs and places we'd like to live in next year - going to be such a hard decision: so many amazing and beautiful places we could go to! Got to choose between: beaches and the coast (really miss the ocean and fresh air), mountains and amazing scenery, and beautiful vast grasslands and completely new cultures. Ahh, decisions decisions, at least we've got a full 7 months or so to make our minds up!

In other exciting news: my mother is coming all the way to China (from UK) for a visit! She's going to be here for Christmas and New Year's - we're very excited! We have to work on Christmas day as it's not a holiday here, but that's ok.

Ok, better go and get ready for teaching and another beautiful day in China. Have a great Monday everyone!

Feeling the cold here now. Wore THREE tops to run in on my long run this morning, plus the usual gloves and long running pants. Still cold now (having not moved much since I returned - trying to psych myself up to get into our cold, uninspiring bathroom). The weather report for the low temperature today says this:

But it feels more like ZERO methinks.

Still, it was nice: crisp and fresh on my run, not wet, which was a blessing, and there was the beautiful, big, orange orb of sun rising up as I ran past the eery, completely still river with its ghostly fog hovering just above the surface. However, it was not my best run. Had a lot of (womanly) pain for most of it (whoever said that exercise made it better??) but those excellent endorphins kicked in at about kilometre 15. An elderly gentleman speeding past me in the opposite direction gave me a hearty thumbs up as he went, to which I eagerly responded with my own thumb of course (the equivalent of a Chinese runners' high-five perhaps?), so this gave me a well needed boost. As did seeing a former student of mine near the end of the run and hearing an enthusiastic 'Hello Louise!'.

So, another week's training done and dusted = feeling awesome. :) Time for zao fan (breakfast) and probably more exploring/cycling, shopping and lots of COFFEE this weekend (once I get back up that is).

Have a great weekend everyone! And all the best to those running in a race tomorrow (i.e. Maggie! All the best for the marathon! What a great birthday present to yourself hey!).