Based on my Nike+GPS running app, I have ran 19.12 km so far in 2012.

Read about my ordeal below.

First, the auspicious bib number.

The run was held at the Tampines Mountain Bike Trail, previously used in the 2010 Youth Olympics, now open to public.

The terrain is filled with hills and slopes, making it rather challenging.On top of that, the recent rainy weather caused some serious mudslides and water pockets. You get what I mean – it is indeed a terrain run where we are bound to get dirty and gross.

I wore my Vibram Treksport for the run. I didn’t blog about my running gear previously because I was suffering some kind of complex – many common runners regard this as fad footwear, many barefoot proponents consider Vibrams antithesis to barefoot running. I am not a huge proponent of barefoot running; let’s just consider me a whatever-works runner. If you can run well in supportive shoes, by all means. For me, I’m better when I’m in minimalist footwear as such. This photo showcases my clean shoes. The stony terrain for biking later proved to be uncomfortable for runners like me; I spotted quite a few Vibram and minimalist footwear runners in the group, so I assume we all suffered the same agony of olive-size rocks pressing underfoot.

Person on the right is the one responsible for roping me into this run, also known as my sister. A seasoned runner she finished the race some 20 minutes ahead of my snail pace. We both didn’t manage to hit our target times; both were off by about 5 minutes. So I guess that’s not too bad.

An unglam finishing line photo of me.

Aftermath

Along the trail was a jungle environment with streams and mud pockets. I sank ankle-deep into the mud; some people lost their shoes in the mud. Then I went almost calf-deep into streams and what some runners behind me called “paddy-field”. I soiled and cleaned my feet multiple times through the race, fearful of my wet feet devleoping blisters, which thankfully did not happen. It was actually fun to wade through mud and water; a certain rugged charm to it. Of course, it is important not to slip and fall on the muddy slopes; those were agonizingly difficult.

The race was definitely challenging; the multiple slopes and rough terrain slowed all of us down; most of the trail I was walking, either due to slopes or painful rock-filled trails. I actually liked the wet paddy fields and streams; let’s just say I am comfortable with wading and running through water. Mud, that’s another story. The race felt slower than it should be; by 2 km I felt a little stretched due to the steep climb. By 4km I was already looking forward to the end, counting down. At 5km I was very dispirited; just halfway and I felt 3/4 gone. I assume I should not feel that way. Thankful for the enthusiastic road marshals (with whom I struck conversation or thanked), it wasn’t a lonely activity. Despite this being a mob run it can get hauntingly lonesome and demoralizing. I spoke to some fellow contestants; warning the ones behind me of deep mud pockets, talking to a dude who lost his shoes and had to barefoot-run another 4km, saying Hohoho to two Santa costume-clad crazy people… was there camaraderie in a mob run? Don’t think so though.

Only the final 50m dash was tarmac; I don’t think I have looked forward to tarmac that much in my life.

Finisher Medal.

I finished with a timing of 1 hr 45 minutes; bad for a 10km but I think not bad for a beginner. Will I do trail again? I’d have to lose my mind first.

Getting ready for the massage

It was a weekday afternoon, there weren’t many customers, so I waltzed in to one of their stores – they have multiple outlets within the same building. I asked for 40 minutes of torture massage; you can choose durations from 20 minutes on. 40 minutes of torture massage costs $20. I think that’s reasonable.

So I sat down and the therapist, rubbed my feet with a wet warm towel and started. He looked at my feet and the first thing he said was to tell me to stop being tense. And then he told me I need to lose weight, like a true healthcare personnel. Well, who doesn’t know that. So P started to press the sole of my feet, it was bearable and nice, to be honest. Certain parts felt tighter and hurt for a little, but nothing to scream about. The real pain came when he did my calves. See, my calves have an incredible fat reserve. So when he applied pressure pushing my fats, it was seriously a trip to hell and back. He says those fats are making my circulation whack. Not funny.

Ordeal aside, it’s … funky(?) how the therapist acted a little shrinky. So like I said he told me to stop being tense, and that’s figuratively. He went on to talk very abstractly about how we can never finish doing everything in a lifetime, and how we come to being alive with nothing and we will eventually leave with nothing. At first I thought well, this is rather general, applicable to everyone. Then he said something that made me seriously go “woah” (for a lack of better description). He said, “You always want to know why. You should stop asking why.” (Non-verbatim but something along these lines). Seriously. Woah.

So in any case, it was a pleasant experience. I won’t say it’s painless, but it’s not painful either. I quite like it. For those interested, the shop is Wan Lin Medical Health Centre located in Fu Lu Shou Complex near Bugis Village. (No, the name didn’t play a part in my decision making.) As mentioned, they have 5 outlets there, and the employee are recognizable with their polo tee. As far as I observed, the place is non-sleazy. Rates are published on a banner outside the shop for transparency.

]]> http://lovelyloey.me/my-first-foot-reflexology-session/feed/ 0 http://lovelyloey.me/nikeipod/ http://lovelyloey.me/nikeipod/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:38:20 +0000 lovelyloey http://lovelyloey.wordpress.com/?p=1982 As you know I bought a new iPod Nano recently and with it comes an in-built pedometer. I’ve set it to “Always On” so it measures the number of steps I take as long as I carry my iPod with me. So far, it’s been really fun and interesting to keep track of how much I walk. When I connect my iPod to the computer it’d automatically sync via iTunes and update my profile on the Nike+ website. There are various milestones to achieve for the NikeplusActive (pedometer) such as walking off a donut, walking off a box of chocolates, scaling Mount Fuji … granted, climbing a mountain is not at all similar to walking in Ion Orchard, but let’s ignore those little details. So far, my best record is 11,678 steps, set on the day I went shopping with KL from Plaza Singapura to Ion Orchard. I’ve been trying to beat that record; my closest was about 100+ steps off the mark. So this is a fun way to motivate me to walk more.

Because I was so hooked on to this iPod and walking thing, I got myself the Nike+iPod sportskit. This is a step further than just the pedometer alone. By placing the sensor in my running shoes and then plugging in the receiver to my iPod, the iPod can track how long, how far and how fast I run or walk. So I took it on a trial run today and I can say it’s the best thing ever invented. I chose a Time goal and selected 30 minutes. While I was walking/running, the voiceover will come on every 5 minutes to tell me how long I have till I reach my goal. If I press the the centre button on the iPod, it tells me how long I’ve walked, how far (in km) and my pace (how many minutes per km). No more using stupid streetdirectory.com (which is now defunct by the way) to attempt to measure how many inches I’ve ran. The sensor, for the lack of a better word, senses the distance for me. I don’t know how accurate it is, but I’d like to think it shouldn’t be too far off. And of course, the data is synced to the website which keeps a record and plots a chart for me. If you are my Facebook friend, go to my profile and you can see this cute little widget on the left column that’s linked to my Nikeplus account online. So geeky and so cool. This is like a way better motivator than a chunky $60/hr personal fitness instructor (not that I had one, just saying).

And so you never know, because of iPod I might start running (again). :D

Guess what’s worse – I had to share lanes with these stupid guys. I was already swimming in the lanes designated for intermediate swimmers (they designate lanes for beginner and intermediate swimmers) and these stupid assholes had to come and swim in my lane. Can’t these shameless oafs tell that everyone thinks they swim weird? And let me say it once and for all – like running, there are standards to swimming styles. If you don’t make the cut, please don’t make a fool of yourself. It’s like running around the stadium track wearing flipflops with your arms akimbo – you’re a laughing stock.

All I ask if for idiots like that to know their place. It’s an eyesore.

Anyway, here are some moves for beginners (like myself) that I Googled off the net:

1. A variation of the bridge:

(Taken from http://corestrengthbyjessica.com/what_pilates.html)

If you own a gymball, this is one move that you can do. The instability of a ball forces you to use your core muscles to balance yourself on it. In the beginning one will probably wobble and fall off, but it’s all fun :) Apparently this pose can help to tighten butt muscles (aka gluteus maximus).

2. A side plank (not sure of the name?):

(Taken from http://www.lifedynamix.com/articles/Fitness/How_to_Make_Exercise_Fun.html)

The key to this pose is to keep the hips away from the ground. Works core and arms too.

3. Another variation of the bridge:

(Taken from http://iomcandy.wordpress.com/2006/05/04/breath-in-one-two-three/)

This is more advanced than the one with the ball. I think. An easier option is to not raise the right leg so high up.

Well there are many other core training exercises (like the plank, low leg raises, back raises…), so I can list every one of them. Em, note to people who’ve been sedentary for quite a while, or those with back injury – try them with care.

It’s apparently the crow post and when the instructor did it, some of us laughed. Like how are we supposed to do that?! Well, I never got my feet more that 2cm above ground. Even when I do push my toes off the ground, I came back down within 1 millisecond. But I’d say that’s a pretty good start. :D I never imagined myself being able to do these things. And there were various other contortions that made me remain jaw-dropped half the class. And because I’ve been stretching muscles I didn’t know exist, I foresee an aching body tomorrow.

Oh well. But I like mat-work pilates. :D (Compared to the hi-lo aerobics class that took a toll on my previously injured ankle. I left that class after 30min. :D)

So I went for the Shape Run this morning at the Esplanade. Flag-off for the 5km category was around 7.35am, 5 minutes behind the 10km category. So I ran, with my MP3 player plugged in and I was pretty happy for the first 2.5km, before the turnabout. I remember when I was at about the 1.8km mark, the fastest running for my category had already made the turn and was going back. And when I was at the turnabout (2.5km mark) a few 10km runners brushed my side. So technically I was running at half the speed of the Pros. But I don’t really care, as long as I finished the run.

You know, while I was running I realised one thing: if the Devil wanted to target weak minds there is not better way than to target those of runners. At the 3km mark I was swearing and cursing (silently, of course) because I was developing a stitch, both sides (how one does that I cannot understand). But I stayed focus and continued to run. Then the back of my shoe started to chafe my skin (my sock kinda slipped). Bloody hell.

(See the blood that stained my shoe?)

But I completed the race, stopping only twice; once at the drink station at the turnabout because somehow they were severely understaffed and decided to let 2 people man a drink station to serve 6000 runners, and once more at the 3.5km because my stitch was killing me.

Lessons learnt:

1. Wear longer socks next time
2. Pace! (Singaporean women need to learn to pace themselves; a lot of them stopped and started walking at the turnabout)
3. DON’T EVER SIGN UP FOR SUCH SHIT AGAIN. URGH.

Well. It was a mental torture towards the end of the run, where the back of my right ankle was screaming and burning, having stitches, and having 45248195 reporters/photographers/road marshalls/onlookers cheering you on (to the point it seems to be doing disservice to them if we stopped). I really cannot imagine how people do 42km. These people rock.

Anyway, closeups of my poor ankle (you know how I love to take pictures of wounds and injuries :D):

(See see! Blood on socks too! Which reminds me. How do I get the bloodstain off my shoe?! ooh, but my ankle looks slim :P)

Anyway, if you are wondering, I did my 5km in 45min. Not a fantastic timing I know (I’d still fail my NAPFA 2.4km!). But sod it, who cares. I was faster than lots of other people :P

Anyway, so I’ve compiled a playlist to listen to during my run tomorrow. I shall list it down (and I know it’s way more than enough to last me 5km)

1. Fighter , Christina Aguilera
2. Everything Back But You, Avril Lavigne
3. Girlfriend, Avril Lavigne
4. You Give Love a Bad Name, Bon Jovi
5. Runaway, Avril Lavigne
6. One of Those Girls, Avril Lavigne
   (now my playlist makes me sound like some jilted girlfriend or something.)
7. Little of Your Time, Maroon 5 (yup just take a little time to run!)
8. Stacy’s Mom, Fountain of Wayne
9. Wake Up Call, Maroon 5 (don’t sleep while running)
10. The Best Damn Thing, Avril Lavigne (c’est moi!)
11. Sk8er Boi, Avril Lavigne
12. Everytime We Touch, Cascada
13. Supersonic, Oasis (supersonic speed?)
14. Can’t Stop, Maroon 5 (don’t stop!)
15. Hell and High Water, Black Stone Cherry
16. Contagious, Avril Lavigne
17. Anything But Ordinary, Avril Lavigne
18. This River is Wild, The Killers (“you better run for the hills…”)
19. The Joke, Lifehouse
20. Why Do I Keep Counting, The Killers (don’t count, just run)

So yup. 20 songs. Think I wouldn’t be able to finish listening to it all (unless I run realllllyyyy slowly, but I really want to finish it before they open the roads again, so there.)

Distance: 5km/ 10km

Date: 9 September 2007, Marina Square

Registration fee: $20/ $30

Visit here for more information.

Alas, I received news that registration has closed because it is already full. I have signed up for the 5km run while I was in China, so I have about 2 months to start getting myself ready. My goal is to finish 5km within 35 minutes, which seems pretty difficult to me, given that I haven’t really been training for the past X months. This will be a challenge for me I guess.