Not long now until the Runners' World 50km trail race. I was reminded of this fact when I excitedly opened an email from the race organisers this morning. This is what I was faced with:

各位尊敬的2014RW五岳寨国际越野大奖赛参赛者：    您好！    感谢您参加2014RW五岳寨国际越野大奖赛！    赛事最新行程如下：6月6日从集合地出发，7日参加比赛，8日早晨8:00从比赛地便返回出发地（北京），具体信息如下：    1.从北京出发的集合地点是北京西客站大方饭店门口，集合时间是6日早晨8：00，出发时间是早晨8:30。   2.由于车程较长（北京出发车程至少5个小时），在大巴上我们也为参赛者准备了简单水和食物，除此之外您也可自备食品。   3.由于五岳寨海拔较高，六月初虽是夏季，但当地早晚温差会很大，请您带好长袖衣物！ 
 PS：①请保持您的手机畅通，我们的工作人员将在近期联系您并告之乘坐大巴车车号（如北京一号车）信息。         ②本周组委会还会将赛道以及补给等相关信息以邮件形式发送给所有参赛者。         ③ 号码布、芯片以及装备包在选手们到达赛地签到时统一领取。


Hmmm, so, after using the not-so-trusty Google translate, this is the result:

Hello !

    Thank you for participating in the International Cross Country Grand Prix Walled 2014RW Sacred Mountains !

    Race latest itinerary is as follows : June 6 Depart from the collection , the 7th race , the 8th from 8:00 game will return to departure ( Beijing ) , specific information is as follows :

    1 Meeting Place starting from Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing generous hotel entrance, the collection is the 6th time 8:00 , the starting time is 8:30 .

   2 Due to drive longer ( Beijing starting drive at least 5 hours ) , on the bus we have prepared a simple water and food for the participants , in addition you can also bring your own food .

   3 due to high five岳寨海pull , though it is summer in early June , but the local morning and evening temperature will be great, could you take a good long-sleeved clothing !


PS: ① Please keep your phone unblocked , our staff will contact you to ride the bus and told the license number ( such as Beijing-1 car ) information in the near future .
         ② committee this week will be the track and supplies , and other related information is sent to all participants by email .
         ③ number bib , chip and equipment bag in the race to sign players to reach a unified collection.


So, not entirely sure about everything they wanted to tell us, but hopefully I've got the gist of it anyway. Sacred mountains sound awesome! As does Grand Prix! Glad I'm picked up running on stairs again, think my legs will need it for this race.

Any fluent Chinese speakers / translators out there - was Google close enough? Any further translation would be much appreciated. Cheers! Have a great Monday everyone!

Once the rain subsided I made it (at last) to the track for the following run: 3.22 easy pace, 6.44 threshold pace, 3.22 easy. My threshold pace is supposed to be between 4.07 and 4.15, and I stuck to this range, sometimes going up to 4.15 but sometimes going too low to 4.00 or 4.05. When I remembered to take note when Garmin beeped at my kilometre marks, my average times were 4.07, 4.07, 4.08, 4.09, and then 4.03 (oops, the last one was a little fast then). Total time of 58:07.  Fastest 5 km was 20:38. Felt great. LOVED leaving the track, haha…

So, come on people, HOW do I change my trackitude and learn to LOVE going there for a run, rather than having to psych myself up to even get there? It is definitely a love/hate relationship. Ok, let’s look at the positive aspects of running at the school’s track:

• It is accurate in terms of distance and speed (now that I’ve got my trusty Garmin)
  
  
• There is no traffic or lights to have to stop at
  
  
• No pedestrians to avoid (or motorbikes on the pavement coming straight at you)
  
  
• Most of the time I have got it all to myself
  
  
• It is 300 metres from my apartment
  
  
• I feel amazing at the end of a workout at the track
  
  

Ok, a couple of those pesky (but substantial) negative aspects:

• It is kind of (ok, sometimes, very) monotonous. Akin to an outside treadmill?
  
  
• It is synonymous with speedwork (or attempting speedwork on some days)
  
  
• Sometimes there are some awkward moments when others are on the track and I attempt some ‘excellent’, mid-running Chinglish.
  
  

So, you see, lots more good than bad going on down at the track, so I hope this helps me next week to bound on out there full of enthusiasm and genuine excitement for my speed session. Ahem. Watch this space.

Hmmm, just noticed my calendar on this blog was out by a day?! Not sure how or why, or if I f*&ked it up now, but have changed it back to being today, 11th December 2013... AND, on with the post now:



This morning's run was an easy recovery-ish pace run, about 8km ish. Not sure how long it took as I stopped in a shop to look at some comedy Chinglish emblazoned stationery for a good ten (or more?) minutes when I got back to just near school. They have some excellent stationery and gifts with phrases and sayings that must have got lost in translation along the way, and make no sense, but look very cute and all. I have a friend in London who loves this shizzle, so am always on the look out to add to her collection.

Cold and slightly less-smoggy again today. Could even see the mountains behind the river again! Beautiful.

I read somewhere the other day re: the importance of ab work or core work, whatever you want to call it, and how strengthening these muscles can actually improve your race times. I have always shied away from this hey. Have reluctantly done it as part of longer workouts, or if in a class or if its part of a workout challenge (i.e. as part of Hasfit's 90 day workout challenge there were various core workouts, entitled '6 minutes to a 6-pack', or '8 minute abs' etc), but it is my LEAST favourite thing to do workout-wise. How to change this? How to grow to love doing core work so that I can become a better racer/runner, and so I can develop abs that look like a little like this:

Not that my bare midriff is likely to see the light of day, and particularly not here in China in Winter. However, come summer time it would be a plus, not to mention it will apparently help my running form and times too. Win-win.

So, I will be making a conscious effort to incorporate some ab workouts into my daily exercise. Any workouts you know in this area would be welcome. I know I should be planking or doing things like this to see results:

So, I guess, I've just got to fucken DO IT!

Have an ABS-olutely CORE-ackin day everyone!