Category:

Biryani, Back-to-Bed, and Bad Friends

9/20/2014

Phew! I'm back. Feels like it's been a crazy busy week, well, for us anyhow (I still can't fathom how I used to work a 40 hour week in the past! Not sure I'll ever go back to that either). I've gone from having 7 lessons in a week to having 19, plus four different early-morning exercise dates, and then there was an extra 'English party' event that we went to (actually, I think we were required to go to) on Friday evening (although when there is a 'party', read = performances). But, always good to see some live music and dancing hey). This week also featured the most delicious, and very moreish, homemade biryani; cooked by some lovely medical student dudes from Pakistan. Definitely carb-loaded on that night. (Thanks Watson, if you're reading this! Delicious!)

As for the running bit? Well, I got a decent-ish early morning run on Thursday. I started with half an hour by myself along part of my usual riverside route, and then met a friend at the uni's sports track for the next halfa. Again, it was fun to run with someone and have a chat - sure does make time fly by too. That is one busy track in the mornings (and I suppose all day long?), and various male students told me 'Hi teacher! We are your students!' and then had an impromptu sprint race of about 100m, I think to show me how fast they can run? Haha... Verdict? MUCH faster than I can! Anymore that is...

I realised this morning, on my one longer run of the week, how much my speed has reduced in the past couple of months - paces I was keeping in my half marathon training throughout May and June, I wouldn't have a hope of meeting now. That's ok though. I mean, it's not as if I am doing any kind of speedwork or training to pick my pace back up. Plus, I have to keep reminding myself, that for this next half marathon I am not running with the aim of getting a pb, but just with the aim of enjoying the race (oh, and getting that all important race medal and t-shirt, of course). So, my easy, comfortable pace seems to be usually around 5 minutes per km. This morning I ran 16kms and it took me 1:21 (so, give or take stopping at some crossings and gates etc). It was a great run though, and I was left feeling strong and happy. Result. After shopping/showering etc, we then had a picnic on our bed while watching a documentary and then went back to said bed. Nothing better than going back to bed after a longer run on a Sunday.

Now for something else, something a little bit shit. Did you ever have a friend who, whenever you talk with them or spend time with them, they put you down or insult you or offend you? Yet, you keep on spending time with that person regardless of how they treat you? Why do we do that?? Why do we put ourselves through that and all the negative emotions that comes with it? Life is short and so is our time, so if someone treats you badly or you don't enjoy spending time with them (either virtually or face-to-face) then I think it's way ok to look after yourself and say 'enough is enough - I will no longer give my time and feelings to this friend who treats me like this'. This should be our choice to make as free individuals and we shouldn't feel guilty about doing so. We choose who to have in our lives, for the most part, and some friendships and people, sadly, change over time. Again, life is short - spend it with those who love and respect you and vice versa, and spend it doing things you love (i.e. for me: things I LOVE and do regularly: running, yoga, reading, beers with new friends, drinking tea, eating out, travelling).

Well, that's enough of my rant for today. I hope you're all having f&*ken excellent weekends wherever you may be. On the cards for the rest of my Sunday-Funday is rest/relaxation/more documentaries/peanuts/tea/ice-cream/SLEEP. I can't wait. :)

Do you have a friend in your life who no longer treats you like a good friend?? Did you cut them out of your life completely or confront them or just let that friendship slide?

Do you ever go back to bed after an early morning run? Favourite post-run activity/routine??

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Too Busy to Blog?

9/15/2014

6 Comments

So it seems this blogging malarkey may be reduced to every other day now, or every couple of days. My profuse apologies in case you're an everyday reader! But alas, somehow we have been landed with a busy schedule, and although going from 10 hours of teaching per week to around 16 doesn't sound like much, it is making a huge dent on our usual 'free' time. Hmmm... For example, yesterday we didn't finish 'work' until the grand old time of half past six in the evening!! This is a new teaching experience for us. However, the enthusiastic, lovely students we teach are kind of making up for the hectic schedule, so I'm sure we'll get used to it.

In fact, this morning I went for a run with one of my said new students. As you may know, I'm usually very much a solo runner, however running with someone else was pretty good! We ran for about half an hour and at a very comfortable, slower pace than I am used to (actually started off uncomfortable as it felt strange to be actively slowing the pace down, at first...) but chatted the whole time. I'm sure there's some kind of valuable lesson here re: the benefit of friendship and slowing down occasionally as opposed to always running for at least an hour or more and at your hardest effort (usually).

I have another running 'date' on Thursday with another friend. That will be on the university's sports track, so that will be a first for me here. Looking forward to it.

In between yesterday's busy teaching schedule I did manage to get some strength training and the usual dog-walking in, and tomorrow I have an early morning yoga date again. So, pretty on track with my fitness, however, it's not too running-heavy nor geared towards my upcoming half marathon in October. I think I will rectify this with a weekend longer run to make up for less running kilometres during the week.

In other Tongliao related news: It's starting to get a fair bit colder here now - quite autumnal. But still hot and sweaty in the too-crowded classrooms during lessons.

That's all folks. Have a super day!

What's your usual finishing time from work? (Ours used to be 4pm at the latest! Oh Yiwu, how we miss you...)

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The Need for Speed and Massage

6/30/2014

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Boom. Legs seem back to 'normal'. Hurrah! All went well at the track this morning, and although it's about half of what I've been doing on previous weeks for my speedwork, this is what the plan called for, as I guess, one last final speed test / shake up before the race this weekend. In a way, it (I hope) emulates what I will be aiming to do at the Gold Coast half, sort of a mini-version of my plan. On the day I'm aiming for this: 3km warm-up/easy pace, 5km at threshold pace, 1.6km easy pace, 4.8km threshold, 1.6km easy, last 5.1km threshold. As long as I stick to my intended threshold pace (between 4:07 and 4:18, but usually 4:10 to 4:15 ish) and run no slower than around 4:45 for the easy paced sections (I hope), and providing my legs continue to do what I'm asking them to, then it should be a successful race. Watch this space.

Something I've read before but never put into practice is this: pre-race massage. Hmm, why haven't I tried this out before? I mean: I love running/racing. I love massages. Why not combine them, i.e. use the massage as a lead up to the race or part of my preparation? Doing some research this morning has informed me that ideally getting one from 3 to 5 days before your event can be very beneficial. I think I'll be getting one when I head up to Hangzhou (the capital of this province, and where I fly out from), which will be 3 days out from raceday. We wonder sometimes, Husband and I, why we haven't gotten more massages while we've been living here. Because we both LOVE getting massages. Hmmm, for me I think it comes down to this: not knowing which 'massage' places or spas are legit (and not brothels, of which there are many in our neighbourhood, ahem...) and the one massage I tried in a local, looked-legit place around the corner ended up being extremely painful and more of a manipulation massage rather than a relaxing, oily type. The BEST massage I've had out of my maybe 4 massages in total since being in China (in other cities), was one at the airport hotel in Shanghai airport. It was a Swedish massage and this will be the type I'll look for on Thursday. Of course, you can't beat a wonderful Balinese massage, but my journey's sadly not taking back to Bali this year (sigh). On this note if you're ever in Bali, get up to North Bali to a place called Bondalem - it's gorgeous, totally natural and beautiful, and far from the maddening crowds of infamous Kuta or Seminyak. Our friends have a villa there, Villa Selina (http://villa-selina-bali.com/), where you can stay and experience whatever's your cup of tea (surfing, hiking to a waterfall, chilling by the pool with copious Bintang beers, or sunrise yoga looking at the ocean). Another highlight of staying there (along with the amazing fresh and delicious food, and wonderful, warm company and hospitality) would be the massages. Seriously, the BEST massage I've ever had was there. Soooooo good. And I've had a lot of massages during holidays in Bali (and other places, but probably the most in Bali), and this was hands down the BEST. Ask for the masseur Firman, and they'll hook you up.

Here are some photos of beautiful Bondalem and Villa Selina from last year. Oh, if only I could fly in and see Matt and Putu and family, and the talented Firman before my race!

That last photo features the gorgeous Annie (soon to be seeing her on Saturday in Oz! Yes!!) and beautiful Selina, on one of our last days of our long (but never long enough!) holiday in Bali last year. Oh Bali how we miss you....

So, in summary, if I can seek out a masseur who is anything like Firman was, then I'll be a happy camper (or even more of a happy camper) and fully fully prepared for the weekend's race.

Do you get a massage before a race? Or regular massages when you are training? (It's something I should do, but haven't incorporated it into my training or routine for some reason, d'oh...)

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New Shoes and New Jobs

6/24/2014

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Another week, another random pain, hmm, what’s going on? Today’s random (and I hope one-off) pain was in my lower right calf, and then another niggling (but more subtle) similar pain occurred in the left calf towards the end of my run too. The pain wasn’t too extreme, just annoying, but in the end it caused me to reduce my last tempo interval by a kilometre, as I decided to listen to my body and call it a day earlier than planned. (Today’s run was as follows: 1.6km warm-up, 2x 4.8kms at threshold pace with 3 mins rest in between, then a final 3.8kms threshold pace instead of a third 4.8kms interval, then the 1.6kms cool-down.)

I have an awful feeling that this week’s random pain may be a shoe related issue. I.e. that my shoes are well overdue for a change. I have read that you should change your running shoes every 800kms or so. Now, I was planning on getting a new pair at the expo during the marathon weekend in the Gold Coast, but now I’m not sure if I should wait and run in the shoes that I’ve got and have been training in, or buy a new pair and hope I can break them in in time for next Saturday’s race, or run in my older, even more worn out but trusty pair of shoes. Hmm, what to do? Or, maybe it has nothing to do with the shoes and is all in my head?? I hope so.

Something that helped immensely today, and not just with the run, but with the actually getting up and out there in the, yes you guessed it, continuous pissing down rain, was a mantra courtesy of Kristen at Glitter and Dust (http://glitteranddust.com/), about not trading what you want most for what you want right now. Thanks Kristen! This actually woke me up, as I was midway through a random dream re: eating a chicken burger (even more random as I have recently gone back to being mostly vegetarian, along with Husband who is newly vegetarian) and was wondering in the dream if I was awake or dreaming this, and if I was awake then why was I eating a chicken burger so close to getting up for my morning run? Then it struck me, oh it must be a dream, and the mantra came in, adapted to suit the occasion, and spurred me on to wake up as I told myself: ‘don’t trade sleeping in again for what you want most Lou!’

I wish I’d remembered this phrase yesterday afternoon though, when I absolutely traded in what I want most (to get a new PB at the Gold Coast half marathon, and thus, sticking to my training schedule, rain or no rain) for what I wanted right then: going for beers and snacks of our favourite marinated cucumber dish and edamame beans, followed by dinner with a nice bottle of red. So, no, yesterday’s run was out the window! Oops…

Another awesome mantra that helped a lot this morning was courtesy of Kristina over at Blog About Running (http://blogaboutrunning.com/) where I reminded myself that ‘I’ve done it before, I can do it again’. Thanks Kristina!!

I have written on here before about how sad we will be to say goodbye and how much we have loved working here. We also often say how this is the best job we’ve ever had and that it doesn’t feel like a job. There’s been no criticism (‘constructive’ or otherwise), no dramas, and no stress. We have been able to plan our own lessons and teach what we like and use whatever method we choose to, and have always been praised and appreciated. The working hours are great as are the perks of the job, and the other teachers are very friendly and warm and welcoming. If you like the sound of this teaching job, then read on: there are two vacancies here at the school we are leaving soon! It is a great position for a couple, or for two single teachers. If you are hold a TEFL or TESOL or other teaching certificate, and would like to come and teach in China, then please get in touch and send me your details, and I can pass it on to the woman in charge of hiring foreign teachers. Here are some more details about the job:

- Work just over 10 hours a week. (Sometimes less when there are exams, sports days etc.)

- Accommodation provided (fully furnished, utilities paid for, all mod cons, air con, TV, internet etc)

- Bicycles provided too!

- Airfare reimbursed at the end of the contract.

- Extra expenses reimbursed at the of the contract too. (For telephone, medical, and travel.)

- Medical insurance covered by the school.

- After the initial visa to get in the country, the school pays for your health examination, resident permit and all renewals etc.

- Breakfast and lunch provided 5x a week.

- Work only Monday to Friday, and usually between 10am and 4pm.

- Lots of time off and freedom to explore this and other cities.

- Teach 13 to 15 year olds (depending on which grade you teach), and between 22 and 44 students in a class or half class.

- Must be a native English speaker.

I’m sure there are lots more details I could tell you about, but if you like the sound of it so far, then please do get in touch! They are looking for someone (or two people ideally) to arrive in late August, for the beginning of term on September 1st.

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of where we live and teach:

I hope the school finds some new teachers in time for September. Of course, we'll naturally be jealous of whoever takes our place! :)

So, tell me, what do you reckon I should do re: my shoe dilemma?

How often do you replace your running shoes?

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How About the Humidity!?

6/16/2014

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The humidity here in Yiwu this morning is insane. Just saying. Out of control humid. So, I’m sitting here with a face that’s covered in sweat as I write this, nice…

This morning’s scheduled run was a speed session down at the track, which it seemed I’d not long ago left (I went for a quick 6km run last night seeing as I’d missed the early morning slot). On schedule was: 1.6km warm-up, then 4x 3.22kms at threshold pace (4:07-4:18) with 3 minute rests in between, then 1.6km cool-down. This day calls for a double up run with an 8km run scheduled for later, however, due to already being drenched and soaking wet and not wanting to relive the similar feel of last night’s humid/soaking wet run, I decided to tie these two together and just keep on running and get it all done and dusted for the day, and so, once I’d finished the speed workout, I had a drink of water, a banana, and set off on the 8km recovery run.

A Few Things Re:These Runs:

The humidity caused my speed intervals to be extremely tough. It seemed it was a battle between me and the humidity. Sucks to say but the humidity eventually won out and I cut the last interval short by 1.2km. Booo humidity…

- I was absolutely drenched not long after I began the track run. Soaking wet. Which is not too fun to run in. I think I was getting extra strange looks this morning, not only for being a running laowei but for being a soaking wet/drowned rat kind of running laowei. Check it out, I tried to capture just how wet I was when I got back: the first one will give you the idea of the weather conditions over here and in the second one I was trying to show that it looks like I’ve been in a shower fully clothed. Ohwell…

My feline friends were back at the track, but this time there was an extra tabby and tortoiseshell one. Cute.
During the recovery 8km, something worrying happened from kilometer 3 to 7. Knee pain. Uh-oh. WTF?! Very random knee pain in my left knee, and only very slight. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. It felt kind of like if I had screws around my kneecap, that the ones on the outer side of it were being tightened or screwed in further, if that makes sense. Now, I’m not sure if I spoke too soon re: being fully recovered after the ultra race, or if this is a completely unrelated (one-off) random pain. I hope the latter! I’m supposed to be getting back into things hey! And building my speed back up for the half marathon in less than 3 weeks time! Noo… So, I’m not sure what it was, but it seemed to disappear again by the last kilometer. Strange hey? I will keep an eye on it (and maybe not run tomorrow, not sure), and will be trying out some of those joint capsules that the wonderful Runner’s World folks gave me as part of my prize. Haha, maybe they know something I don’t (more than likely). Can’t hurt anyway, so will give them a go.
My shoelaces came undone during the track workout. TWICE. Kind of annoying and put me off my pace. The second time it happened I was wavering anyway with feeling the full extent of the heat and humidity (it felt like running through a heavy, warm cloud) so I took this as a sign that maybe I should shorten that last 3.22kms interval and start my cool down early. Listen to my body and all that. I hope my laces last the distance on 6th July!
Apart from the not going the full distance in the speed session and the random knee pain during the recovery run, I was pretty happy with my effort this morning. I was able to keep at threshold pace for the distances I had set out, mostly anyway, and felt like my legs can do it. Although it was hard. I guess there’s a reason it’s called speedwork, and not run-at-an-easy-comfortable-pace-so-it-doesn’t-feel-like-work-work. You know your workout is hard and challenging when you are talking to yourself and making deals/excuses, i.e. ‘if you don’t run this last kilometer you will always get it in later in the day’, or: ‘you’ve done extra kilometres walking to the track and during the 3 minute rests, so you can stop early’. Lol…

A Few Things Not Re: These Runs:

- Our staple go-to breakfast a lot of the time (when we don’t feel like going to the school canteen for brekkie) is ‘Eggy Rice’. I thought I would share the ‘recipe’ here. It’s a good ‘un – very easy: Take any leftovers you may have from the night before (for example, for us today: leftover spicy beans and cauliflower with rice that I made last night). Chuck it in the wok after heating a little oil first. Fry for a couple of minutes:

Chuck in a couple of eggs and sort of muller it all together. Cook until you think it’s all cooked through, with some brown bits if you like:

If you’re like me, the next step is to douse it with aromatic vinegar, et voila: Eggy Rice. It tastes a lot better than it looks, I promise. I guess it’s like a Chinese ‘Bubble and Squeak’?

- Very soon, I get to hang out with my favourite girl in the world: Annie. Here is us back in January this year:

I. Can’t. Bloody. Wait. It will only be for 3 days, but that is 3 days that we will definitely enjoy and here’s hoping we can work out how to freeze time during those days. She is amazing and travelling up from outer-state to meet me at the Gold Coast when I fly there for the half marathon. Amazeballs!
The opposite of this excitement would be the awful, awful pain of seeing the man you love being so utterly heartbroken and shattered, and knowing that you can’t do anything to take his pain away or make it better. All the love/hugs, time spent hanging out with him, nutritious and regular meals, support when he needs it, and alone time when he needs it, are not going to bring his cousin back (she was like a sister to him; they were very close), and it’s so painful hey.
Running (when you’re not trying to keep your speed up at the track and are constantly checking Garmin!) is the best form of therapy and also a great time to meditate on the move I reckon. I. Love. Running.
Yesterday in what was both a crazy hot AND humid day, I decided it would be a good day to do a thorough 3 hour clean of one of our apartments here. You know it’s a good workout/cleaning session when there is sweat dripping in your eyeballs.

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone!

Have you experienced the kind of weird knee pain I described above? Do you think I should take some unscheduled rest days or maybe it was all in my head? (I hope the latter.)

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What Wonderful Wednesdays Feel Like, and Bloggers' Block

6/3/2014

7 Comments

Wonderful Wednesdays begin with… a session at the track. Nope, I’m not kidding. Just got back from my final speedy session pre-race on Saturday, and wow, have I turned it around with my attitude towards the track! Was keen as to get out there this morning, and when I got there ran the following: 1.6km warm-up, 9.66km at threshold pace, 1.6km cool down. Had to slow down slightly around 7kms in as the security guard had come to find me and was waving me down with a package that had arrived in the mail for us, how’s that for service?! So, I ran half of my workout holding a small envelope, but anyhoo, a great run nonetheless.

Let me tell you about these friends I’ve made down at the track. They are definitely the silent type, and mostly they like to quietly cheer me on as I pass them, while they sit at the edge of the track in the long grass. One is a redhead and one has black hair, and they are pretty damn cute. Since I don’t take my camera with me when I go for a run, this is a photo I’ve stolen from google images, but you get the idea:

Just call me the Cat Whisperer. (Do you ever wonder if animals that have an affinity with you are maybe past souls/people you have known?) Shhh, don’t tell Puppy. She can be such a jealous bitch when we show love to other dogs, so I’m sure she’d be the same with cute, little cats.

Apparently blogging and writing posts on here are a lot like running for me: if I don’t do it bright and early in the morning, then there’s a good chance I won’t get it done at all, or it becomes a struggle making time for it later in the day, as things crop up and get in the way. For a couple who have just over ten hours of solid “work” per week (it’s in quote marks as it doesn’t really ever feel like work) our day can get surprisingly busy (yes, this always shocks me too). Yesterday was one of those days.

It started out all well and calm enough, and yes, although I was dog-tired, I still dragged myself out of bed early-ish (about half 5 I think) and nursed a couple of green teas for a while before heading out (in the already hot, humid day) for a 12km easy paced run. As soon as I got back from this is was rush, rush, rush, as I was trying to get showered, ready and leave it just long enough so as to hit that magical refueling period of time (refueling nutrition nirvana?? From 30 minutes to an hour after working out) yet still make it to school breakfast on time, or at least before they close for the day (there is a daily cooked breakfast as well as a school lunch here. Like I’ve said before: good gig). I made it (just), then shoveled down a breakfast of champions: vegetable noodles with added chilli and chives, boiled eggs, steamed bread, and some hot soy milk. However, this ‘rush, rush rush’ pace was then set in place for the whole day. Or so it seemed.

A ‘quick’ trip to some shops turned into a longer trip than first anticipated as apparently I had to wait for them to even open (at the, what seems, crazy late time of 10am!) so I killed time by mooching around in Starbucks with a strong, brewed black coffee, rather than cycle home again until nearer the time; it is now too hot for multiple, sweaty bike rides – we’re definitely back to multiple-cold-showers-a-day weather here.

From said (annoyingly longer than planned) shopping trip, the day then escalated into a busy day of organizing various things (offficial things to do with our apartment back in Oz, upcoming travel plans and reservations, and getting yet further red-stamped certificates for Puppy for our upcoming July China tour – and hence, an unforeseen afternoon trip to the vet’s yesterday too) before we had four back-to-back classes where we gave each student (about 44 in each class) their one-on-one final English oral exam. All of these exams took place in the hot, outdoor corridors, adjacent to their classrooms. Phew….

So, to now cut myself off from rambling about this any further: the day got away from me and therefore a new blog post just didn’t eventuate.

Not least because of something (which maybe simply by rambling on and having the written form of verbal diarrhea on here this morning, I have overcome anyway before ever getting to the point and writing about it?) which can only be described as ‘bloggers’ block’. I.e. Not having the foggiest of what to write. No inspiration. No original (or otherwise) thought for the day. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Hmm. Maybe some more sleep was all that was needed (finally got some awesome, quality sleep last night – I think due to having a total technology ban on myself from early in the evening – took myself off to a cool, dark room, and boom: loads of sleep ensued = success).

But, seriously. Anyone else experience this? Writers/bloggers’ block?

Sure, I could probably have dashed out a few sentences of how I went for a run / my legs feel great / I’m tired / It’s only two days until I leave for Beijing / yada yada yada…But to be honest, apart from the weirdly busy day that got away from me, I also just didn’t know where to even start with the blog post. So, umm, I didn’t. I left it. I procrastinated. I did other things. Then I went to bed extremely early with neither internet nor even an air conditioner turned on (I clearly wanted NO electrical lights or sounds at all hey. The only sound was a gentle whirring of the ceiling fan. Ahh, bliss…).

Aaaand, low and behold: you leave it long enough and your blank post turns into this: a sizeable chunk of a blog post (who cares that it’s been quite nonsensical for the most part?!) Ok, ok, sorry – I will reign in the weirdness now. The point is that I was drawing a massive blank in terms of writing, and more to the point, was aware of maybe boring you guys with what I had to write about (my run / the weather / our job etc). Surely, it would have been like every other post I’ve put out there thus far, and surely you guys reading it would be bored of that by now?? Hence you’ve got this weird ramble from me instead, oops… (Maybe I should have kept things simple after all, and short and sweet. Something like: Ran today. Tired. Busy. Started exams with students. Not much else to report. Oh: excited for Thursday….)

So, tell me (if you’ve stuck with me this far!) do you ever get writers’ (bloggers’) block??

Do you procrastinate with things much? (I am a huge procrastinator – very much a list maker and tea-break-er).

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Zongzi-Making Champions!

5/28/2014

9 Comments

What a fun Thursday morning we've had here in China! We got a call late last night telling us: 'good news! You don't have lessons tomorrow. BUT, you are going to a zongzi making contest and please be ready at 7:30am'. Hmm, our usual lessons would start at half nine, was this really good news??

Yes, it turns out it was. We took part in the annual zongzi making championships, where a local zongzi champ and a foreigner get partnered up and it's a 'zongzi off' to see whose sweet little packages the judges like the best. For those unaccustomed with zongzi, they are: "an essential food of the Dragon Boat Festival. In early times, it was only glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or other plant leaves and tied with coloured thread, but now the filings are more diversified, including jujube and bean paste, fresh meat, and ham and egg yolk". Luckily they kept it fairly 'simple' for us I guess, as we stuck to just two fillings: rice and a small dried fruit (zongzi) or two in the centre.

It was a pretty intense competition, and those zongzi are fiddley little buggers to tie up with string! Especially when there's a camera or 10 in your face, capturing your awkward and fumbley attempts. We can't have done too badly though, as me and the lovely zongzi champ who I was lucky enough to be partnered with (team 12 pictured above) came in first place! This was quite a shock to me, as I was pretty sure mine were fairly inferior, sub-standard zongzi, but there you go. Woohoo! So, as Husband pointed out, I am now the 6th Zongzi Foreign Champion for Yiwu (our city here in China) so I'm quite stoked about that. Husband did awesomely too (better than me, I thought), so I'm surprised he didn't get first, second or third place himself. However, we both got some excellent certificates, a cash prize each (one for taking part and one for winning first place), and some tasty lunch, along with a great morning of bizarre zongzi making fun with some wonderful, warm, friendly people.

Here are some pictures of the event to give you a better idea:

Ok, and onto the running bit: This morning (early early early morning due to our change in schedule - yes, I managed to switch my workout to a 4:30am start in honour of said zongzi event) I was down at the track completing my speed session for week. This was: 1.6km warm-up, then 4x 3.22km at threshold pace with 3 minute rests in between, and ending with 1.6km cool-down. I changed this slightly: instead of the 3 minute rests I carried on running but at a much slower/easy pace for three minutes, and only did a couple of laps of the last set, as I was worried about making our trip in time. All good though. A great, sweaty morning workout, and due to the obscenely early time of the day (which was actually really nice and peaceful, and only slightly unbearably humid and heavy) I had the whole track to myself. Win.

Ever eat zongzi? Have you ever taken part in a food contest? Either making food or eating food?

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One Step At a Time

5/22/2014

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This morning I FINALLY made it for my track session. Hallelujah! It's only taken me 4 days... (I know, I was going to do it yesterday - instead I went for a beautiful run in the peaceful drizzly afternoon followed by 15 sets of our apartment stairs = job done.) So, this is what happened early this morning: 1.6km warm up/easy pace, 9.66km at threshold pace (yep, you read that right - 9.66 fricken kilometres!), then 1.6km cool down/easy pace. Phew. I did it! This is the longest I have run at this quicker pace (between 4:07-4:18) Feel awesome that I completed it.

Not gonna lie - the first 7-8kms or so were tough. Really tough. Maybe from the not-much sleep I've had this week or maybe from some really rubbish womanly pains or whatnot, but whatever, I digress and ramble... So, I had two choices: I could do maybe half of my planned session, or just stop and call it a day early, OR, I could keep going, focusing on ONE kilometre at a time (and at times, one hundred metres at a time, or even one step.) I am so glad I chose the latter. And with each kilometre closer to the end of the faster threshold pace section, it got easier and easier, and I felt miles better. I am feeling pretty confident about my improved pace now, and have shown myself that I can run faster for longer. So, am giving serious consideration to running most of my next half marathon at threshold pace, with a 1.6km ish warm-up and a kilometre or so, in between each 9.66km at threshold, at an easy pace. Something along those lines anyway.

This is my plan for my next half marathon, which is: the Gold Coast half marathon!!! Yes, it turns out I can make it after all. I am pumped! However, I now have a 50km trail race to run exactly one month prior to the Goldy race, so I hope my legs recover quickly enough for me to put this new plan into action. Watch this space.

In other news: it's FRIDAY! Kind of ecstatic about that. Hope you all have a blinder. Tell me something you are doing today / over the weekend!

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Healthy Living in China, Continued...

5/19/2014

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Check out the size of those beans. Runner beans (haha, so, pretty apt, yes?) I know, I look sort of disgusted with them, but fear not, this is clearly my I'm-so-in-awe-at-the-size-of-these-beans look. Just to put it in perspective, here are those same beans using a handily positioned banana for scale:

Fricken huge, gargantuan beans! Whilst I'm not usually one to photograph what I'm cooking or eating, these bean photos somehow led to a further couple of photos on this particular arvo: my raw ingredients, followed by the finished product. Et voila!:

A bit blurry, but you get the idea. SUPER healthy, although nowhere near as amazingly tasty as Husband's chef-like creations.

Not much running to report as yet this week. Traded my easy paced 9.66km yesterday morning for some yoga, and skipped the early morning track run today. Noooooo! So now I'll be playing catch up and aiming to fit the run in at some point today. We have a two hour siesta in between classes today, so there's a possibility there, or otherwise the night time session is on the cards. It has finally stopped raining (for now anyway) so that will be an added bonus.

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone! Tell me, who does most of the cooking in your house? Do you like to cook? (I like to, but I'm usually more of the short-order breakfast cook, specialising in stuff-on-toast or sandwiches. Husband is so much better at the fancy meals.)

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Sunday Firsts (Warning: Contains PB Jubilation)

5/17/2014

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Good morning!

So, these things happened this morning:

1)      First full 22.5km run on the track. (I usually run the warm-up or cool down out on the streets.)

2)      First track workout spent during the RAIN and WIND (yes, the weather tricked me. No rain when I left home to go to the track. Two-ish laps in and the drizzle started, building up to a fairly heavy downpour for most of the run. And guess what? No tripping or slipping over after all! So, have banished and conquered that particular track downer and fear for now.)

3)      First track workout where I was listening to music whilst looking at Garmin and keeping a set pace (threshold pace for most of it, between 4:07 and 4:18). Yes, when it got hard, the usual suspects (Bon Jovi, Santana, Prince, Roxette, The Killers, Daft Punk etc) were there to spur me on and keep me company.

4)      First half marathon time of 1:31!!! Yay! A PB for me!!! (Please give me a definitive answer – does a PB count if it’s just in training and not in an official, chip-timed race??) SOOO stoked and excited by this! That is a whole 3 minutes off my last time at Shanghai. Hmm, yes, there were no other runners to dodge around, but then I had the monotony of the track plus the wind and rain working against me, so I am pretty chuffed with my result. I know, I know, it’s not super speedy, not like some who can run one in 1:20 or 1:15 (I can only dream of ever getting there) but it is my own PB and I am thrilled. It goes to show that I am slowly getting faster due to this training. Here’s what I did this morning: 3.22km easy pace, 4.8km threshold pace, 1.6km easy, 4.8km threshold, 1.6km easy, 5.1km threshold (to get to 21.1!), then an easy/recovery pace for the last 1.4km.

5)      First post-run Sunday selfie for this blog. Haha, I was so happy I took TWO. Don’t judge me!

J