Category: running

Week 2 done, another 14 more weeks to go till #rinazdoes42km!

Am still feeling good and motivated, although seeing the amount of people starting to get sick, there is a risk that I could get infected too. I really don’t want to fall ill in this crucial time!

For today’s blog post, I thought that I’d blog about the minimalist shoes that I’ve been using to since August.

A little back history. While I was in Singapore in the middle of the year, I met up with my friend Kris while hosting my get together.

Kris is an avid runner who has participated in numerous running events, including the Singapore Marathon. I mentioned to him about my bad knee, and that was when he recommended me to give minimalist running shoes a try.

According to him, regular running shoes can be harmful because the thick soles increases the impact of a heel-strike which leads to injuries and knee pains in the long run.

While the thing about minimalist running is that it makes you land on your forefoot directly below your centre of gravity, so you feel more stable and less impact.  It also stimulates and strengthens the muscles in the feet and the lower legs.

After using his minimalist shoes and changing his gait, Kris found out that it has helped to strengthen his calves and ankles as well as greatly improved his Plantar Fasciitis condition.

It all made sense to me and I loved the philosophy of minimalistic running. Thus I was keen to give it a try. By the way, a fun fact!

I was amused to read that after winning the marathon, Abebe Bikila got endorsed by a shoe brand, but he found them uncomfortable. In the end, he chose to continue to run barefooted in the next Olympics while carrying those shoes!

Cart and I managed to drop by a New Balance shop in Orchard Road and I tried several of their Minimus line.

It was an interesting experience for me as the clerk would ask you to walk on a treadmill and examine your gait. Judging by the way you run, they will recommend the type of shoes which they think best for you.

In the end, I got for myself a Minimus WR10V2. It has a 4 mm drop, are extremely light, and it almost makes you feel like you have nothing on. Quite scruffy now that I’ve been using it for some time.

Originally, I wanted something more serious and subdued, but all the women’s pairs were loud and colourful and I had to resign myself to them. Nevertheless I can’t deny that they are quite cheerful looking. In fact, there were a number of people admiring them while I was doing my race by the bay.

I also got a pair of Merrell Vapor Glove quite by chance while meeting up with our dear friend Jerrick at Vivocity. I happened to see them while we were at the Royal Sporting house. Having a  0 mm drop, I loved how thin the soles were. You could practically roll it up.

With this pair, I can feel the ground more – every pebble, every branch … even dog poo, if you are unlucky enough to step in it.

Luckily, they are both easily washable and dries up really fast.

For the moment, I use the New Balance as my main running shoes and the Merrell for shorter runs or as a backup. In the event that they get worn out, I am just worried that either I can’t find them in Rome, or that they are crazy expensive. My New Balance shoes were about $120 SGD (roughly 70 euro) while the Merrells were on offer then at about $80 SGD (roughly 40 euro)

So far in Rome, minimalist shoes doesn’t seem that popular based on what I’ve observed in a commercial centre in Rome and while going out on my regular jogs. Which is strange, considering that Vibram, provider for the sole of most barefeet running shoes, is founded in Italy.

The above are the few minimalist shoes that I’ve spotted out in the mall near my house. You can’t roll them up though. There’s also a Merrell store there but their variety was limited and they didn’t carry mine. The closest to resemble it was meant for men and were too big for me. They were also quite on the pricey side.

I also saw Nike claiming to be minimal with their Free line, but I don’t really consider them to be, as the cushioning looks very thick.

Coming back to my experience in using my shoes, I’m taking to them extremely well now, but it did take a while for me to get used to them. I ran slower than usual on purpose, and had to consciously remember to land on my forefeet.

Because I was stimulating parts of my legs and feet that I don’t normally do with my former shoes,  on the first few runs, instead of my thighs aching, I felt aches in my soleus. It feels good though when I ease them over on my foam roller.

For those thinking of taking up minimalist running, I strongly don’t recommend you to run as you do normally do when using them for the first time. Even though they are extremely light and makes you think that you can run fast in them, it takes a while for the body to get used to them. Also, strength and stretching exercises are very important and cannot be emphasised enough.

I did that mistake and the pain that came after that was not pleasant to say the least. I didn’t run and focused on healing myself for some weeks.

The odd thing now that I’ve run with both, I actually prefer the Merrell over the New Balance because it has a bigger toe box space and I feel the ground more, which probably sounds odd, but interestingly, I feel more comfortable in them when I run.

This probably means that I’m ready to progress to Vibram Five Fingers – the type that Kris uses. They look so strange though.

Digressing, looking at the picture above (I used it to demonstrate toe box space), I really don’t want feet like the one on the left. A certain someone has been scaring me that my feet looked as if I had bunions and that I might need surgery in the future.

I don’t want! I don’t want! I don’t want!

This post isn’t really categorised under ‘running‘ but I don’t have a more appropriate category. Maybe I’ll change it to ‘health’ to make it more encompassing.

Anyway, with the start of October comes the start of public schools as well as sports centre. Which means that there would be lots of open houses going on. And I’ve been taking advantage of that to try the different activities in the sports centre in my zone.

Imagine going for an aerobics class, Taiji, Pilates and Yoga all for just 1 euro! There were also other classes, but these were the ones that I managed to go to. If you are living in Rome, and if it happen to be an open house going on, I urge you to just go take advantage of it and try it out 🙂

In any case, I’ve been dragging Cart with me to accompany me in looking at the different swimming pools in the area. But after looking at several, I’ve decided to just stick to the one near our house because :

1. It’s walking distance. And when Winter comes, it will be a pain to find parking with car but too cold to ride on the scooter and I don’t want to risk having penyumonia all over again.
2. The price is much more competitive here. Unlike other places that charges hundreds of euro, the one near our house, being a comune (sort of like a Govt subsidized centre) we pay a 30 euro registration which is valid for a year and 50 euro each month for a twice weekly lesson.

(I’m trying to find a list of other comune sports centers in Rome but the site is very confusing to me)

In any case, regardless of which sports center you go to, you’d need to get a medical certificate by a family doctor to be accepted.

So why Aquagym?

As you know, I’ve been jogging for a while, and God willing I’ll be doing my longest distance come March. It still feels a little unreal to me, so right now, I’m not comprehending much of the reality of it.

And I’ve been doing my jogs as usual, getting used to my new shoes and I’ve hit 10km so far pain free. But a couple of weeks ago, my knee started to act up again. While normally it would get better in a few days, there were some things that happened to me that aggravated it more. Like riding on the scooter and suddenly seeing a small metal cylinder on the path. I had to stop immediately and doing so, landed on my left leg to prevent the scooter from toppling. My bad knee. Ouch!

Thank goodness I didn’t go too fast. And after that, it was such a drag going down the steps, I had to hobble around even doing certain yoga or stretching poses, much less bending up and down.

So I’m taking Aquagym classes with the hope that it would aid my stamina as well as my muscle mass while at the same time, being low impact in the water, doesn’t aggravate my knee (I wish Cartcart would join me. I think aquagym could be good for his hernia)

Aquagym is basically aerobics in water and I did it the first time about a year ago. I remember it was actually relaxing and I enjoyed it heaps. So imagine my surprise last week when I found out that it was so intensive, I still felt extremely tired the next day. Like running on a 10% battery.

Compared to last year, the classes were more intensive probably because of the timings. In the mornings, there were more nice elderly ladies and thus the movements were more relaxing and slow. While the evening classes were full of younger people, so the instructor makes us do a more challenging workout.

I don’t mind it so much. A harder workout means the more calories you burn and the more toned the body. Even if it might be negated by the amount of food I eat as soon as I reach home. I always get so hungry after this workout.

In any case, I’ve been going for about two weeks now and my knee seems to feel much better so far so I might start on my jogs again in November. My only concern is, seeing how tired I feel, I’m not sure if I have enough energy to even start training simultaneously! My battery is going to go down from 10% to what? 3%? But  better not think too much about it and see how it goes …step by step …(ooh baby)

By the way, one big cultural shock about going to the pool here is seeing all the naked women in the changing room / shower, sometimes walking about, chatting with each other in their naked selves without batting an eye. Some were even admiring their naked bodies in the mirror.

I still am not that comfortable in going around with my bits hanging out and I prefer to change out of my wet swimsuit discreetly. But I’m getting used to seeing all the nakedness and not feel so embarrassed as I was the first time I was there.

I’m not sure if it is the same phenomenon as for the other pools in Rome as far as the ones that I’ve been to previously, there are some with open showers while some have doors on them.

But we’re lucky in a way, because in other European countries like Finland and Sweden, co-ed saunas and pools are common. Even if the intention is non-sexual, I really don’t want to see hairy naked men. And we all know that most Italian men are super hairy. It’s not pleasing to my eyes to see them naked.

As you know, earlier this year I did a half-marathon which was probably the most intensive training that I did so far. I don’t remember encountering any pain in the duration. Most to most was that I felt extremely tired when I was done.

I took a break after that, before starting to jog casually again. It was only then when I realised that I had pains in my left knee – it felt as if the muscles in my knee were made of multiple rubber bands and it hurts when I tried to extend it. So I hobbled a bit and it disappeared a few minutes once I start jogging. The feeling wasn’t like KILL! PAIN! DESTRUCTION! RAGE! But I was of course, concerned.

While I was in Singapore, after picking my race pack for my 15km run, I happened to walk past a booth that was promoting their physiotherapy company. I was Intrigued because of my knee, so I walked up to learn more and I met with Ben, who was very knowledgeable and patient.

One of the first question that he asked me was, “Do you do stretches?”

Sheepishly, I admitted that apart from some sun salutations, and some ankle and knee rotations, I did little stretching.

And then he asked me to do some moves, like a one leg squat and that was when I realised that I felt tightness in some area. He also started to put a little bit of pressure with his hands on my legs, and I almost screamed when he pressed my left thigh. It was painful!

(Interestingly, it didn’t hurt at all for my right side. Which was surprisingly unexpected)

At length, he diagnosed me as having a runner’s knee, which usually happens when you train for too much, and too quickly, which doesn’t allow the body to get adjusted in time. According to him, I also need to do more exercises to strengthen my muscles, not only for the legs, but also the glutes which is important to hold them together.

Basically, it’s a fallacy that just because you’re a runner, you need to only work your leg muscles. It’s good to have an overall strength for improved performance.

Cart was saying something interesting about footballers in the 70s looking like T-Rexes because of their stocky legs and tiny upper parts because their legs were the only parts that was concentrated due to lack of information during the times.

(I can’t get rid of the mental images of T-Rexes playing soccer, with their short arms. It’s too funny!)

In the end, Ben taught me how to do massages to help relieve the muscle aches that I had. I made sure that Cart saw it too, so he could do it for me (^_^) You could use those muscle rubbing gel on your skin, but regular body creams work too. And you basically push the ache in a straight direction with your thumb (a tennis ball works too)

Finally Ben used a kinesiology tape on my knee to help speed up its recovery time. Which come to think of it, was probably the reason why I didn’t feel any pain the entire week leading up to my 15km run. I did everything else pretty much the same.

(This picture was taken several days after the taping)

The irony is, I bought for myself a roll of that tape but I don’t know HOW to use it because the ache is now in a different location (more in the soleus than the thigh) ever since I’ve changed to my minimus shoes.

Today I’ll share with you the exercises that Ben taught me to do to strengthen my glutes. I normally do this before I go jogging :

1. Clamshell (3 x 10 reps)
2. Hip extention (3 x 10 reps)
3. Single leg bridging (3 x 10 reps)
4. Squats (3 x 10 reps)
5. Lunges (3 x 8 reps)
6. Single leg squat (3 x 8 reps)

And when I’m done jogging, I do these stretches to ease the muscles.

1. Quadriceps stretch
2. Hamstring stretch
3. Hip Flexors stretch
4. ITB Stretch
5. Gastroc Stretch
6. Soleus Stretch (I really feel this!)

For these stretches, you are supposed to hold the pose for 20 seconds each rep (5 times), so I use an app called the Tabata HIIT timer on my phone to help count for me.

So far, I feel a great improvement since I started doing these stretches and I’m always pleasantly surprised that I my aches are reducing to the point of being relatively pain free since a month that I’ve picked up jogging again back in Rome.

Of course, I’m going to take it easy, and not exert myself and slow down when I feel something about to act up. I really don’t want to completely damage my legs and end up in a wheelchair.

After participating in some runs in Rome, I was curious to find out how it would be to run in Singapore. Can you believe that I haven’t?

So I looked through this very useful website that lists the running events in Singapore. At that point of time, it was fasting month then so I didn’t want to exert myself so I didn’t go running regularly. Nevertheless, I was rather ambitious and chose the 15k CSC Run by the bay.

For some inexplicable reason, I decided to wait till the last day to register, thinking confidently that I would be able to sign up before midnight, SG Time. Technically, it is not wrong after all but to my horror, I found the sign up page closed!

So to console ourselves, my best friend Juli and I decided to sign up for the ’10k Love your heart run’ instead. To be honest, I am not so keen on supporting Nestlè, which is the main sponsor. But this is a dominating brand in Singapore, so it’s hard to avoid it. Moreover quite a generous amount of money ($1 SGD each KM ran) will be donated to the Singapore Heart Foundation.

The funny bit is, a day later I received an email from the organizers for the CSC Run allowing me to participate using a special code. I wrote to them a couple of days prior, asking if there was anything that I could have done, not expecting that they would reply to me.

So what the heck, why not? I joined that one too. Two races in consecutive weekends!

By the way Juli was surprised to see that the registration fee was about $40 SGD. But for me, after participating in events in Rome, I think the amount is actually quite reasonable considering that you don’t need to go through extra steps like getting a specialist medical certificate which costs a lot of money, and being a member of a sports association, which costs a bit too.

(At this point of time, I’m still considering if I want to participate in the Maratona di Roma or the likes next year. While I’m interested, for sure it’s going to cost at least another 100 euro and I’m balking at the thought of that)

A week before the race, as I still have not arrived in Singapore yet, Juli picked the race pack up for me. It was surprisingly heavy!

There is a t-shirt, some cereal, powdered milk, a pack of milo, a mini cetaphil facial set and some pertinent information regarding the race.

It came in a cute exercise bag that I’d be happy to use out.

One touch that I really liked was that the race bibs came individually packed with 4 safety pins. I find it extremely thoughtful as I’d usually be scrambling to find safety pins before a race so it’s nice to see it already packed for me.

The moment I reached Singapore, I didn’t waste time and did some running on my own to start my engines going again at the beautiful Lakeside. I did a video about it here, but loads has changed since.

One day prior to the race, Juli and I made plans to meet at the MRT interchange at 5.30am. But she got sick on the day itself and couldn’t risk even going out of the house. Poor thing! 🙁

Thus I went ahead on my own, and eventually reached the Raffles Place MRT station and saw a conglomeration of people wearing the same kind of t-shirt as I did. Which was a good sign, as I didn’t really know the path to the start point, so basically I just followed the crowd. But it would be bad if we were all following a clueless person.

The sun was just about to rise when I left the MRT station. It’s so beautiful to see the light breaking over the tall buildings in Marina Bay. The three tower with the ship looking thing on top is fast becoming an icon in Singapore.

I managed to reach the starting point in time, with about 10 minutes extra as they did a mass warm up. From where I was, I couldn’t see the host, so it was hard to understand his instructions.

There were about 2 thousand of us participating, all raring to go. Looking around, I saw a modest amount of international participants. After a short speech by the guest of honour, we were off!

The scenery looked quite pretty, running through the bay and the park, seeing all the new sights that I’ve never seen before, with the sun just starting to rise over the water and through the buildings.

To be honest, the run went rather leisurely. Except  the one part where we had to run up a steep ramp which was tiring.

There was a strange man who was running with us, and brought with him a portable radio and blasted Britney Spears songs and tried to cajole us into singing with him. Such an eccentric character.

I admired the shoes of some of the participants – one in particular, when he lifts his feet up, the sole looked sort of like monster paw print. If I’m not wrong, I think they are Newton Shoes. The soles look pretty cool.

Eventually I  finished my run in 1 hr 8 mins, and found out that I’m top 100 in the women’s category! But it’s not so impressive considering that there were only about 400 female participants that day :p

I got my medal, got some refreshments and then contemplated on taking a long, scenic bus ride home. I was perspiring profusely though and it felt wrong for me to pollute a bus like that.

But on hindsight, I should have. It’s not like I am back in Singapore that frequently.

—

For the next run, I collected my race pack at the Civil Service Club. Within just a few minutes of exploring the place, I was floored at how beautiful and lush the place looked. I think there were 5 floors, fully fixed with different sports facilities – there is a gym, a pool, bowling … A SPA! Part of me wishes that I was in the civil force if I can get to enjoy perks like these.

While collecting my race pack, I really liked how professional and organized it was. Unlike in Rome where you were forced to walk through an insane amount of booths, I just walked up to the counter which was just a few steps from the entrance and they passed me my race pack. No fuss. I didn’t feel hounded to see any organizer’s display booth.

By chance there was a booth showcasing a physiotherapy company where I stopped by and learnt a lot of interesting things. I think that I’ll blog about that in the future as I think it’s a useful thing to know for runners.

I forgot to take a picture of my race pack, so here is my bib instead :p

Just like for my previous run, I really liked how it was thoughtfully packed complete with the safety pins inside. Behind, there is a timing chip, made of soft plastic that you can keep after the race.

For our race packs, we each got a Mizuno singlet, a bodyfoam and facial wash, and a muscle rub. Not as much freebies as my previous runs, but oh well. Less baggage to carry back to Rome.

On the day itself, I woke up really early.  As public busses are very irregular and because the MRT starts its run only at 5.30am, I walked all the way to the MRT startion. Nevertheless, I knew I wouldn’t be in time anyway as it takes a good amount of time to reach Marina Bay.

In the end, I reached there about 15 minutes late and searched for the start point and ran off immediately! Luckily I try to always travel light when I run so there will be no need to deposit my bag and whatnots.

We ran around Marina Bay Sands. It was more or less the same route as my previous run, but with the addition of a park path and a bit of the roadside.

I was a little nervous doing this rather long run quite a short time after my month of fasting.  Moreover, I just changed to my new minimus shoes that week. But at the back of my mind, I knew I can do it.

The amazing thing in all my duration of running while in Singapore, I didn’t encounter any pain whatsoever. I expected sore thighs I usually get after going long distances. But the next day itself, I flew off to Langkawi like nothing happened.

It was only when I tried to do the same when I came back to Rome, the knee acted up again. What on earth did I do differently?!

Something interesting I observed about the runners during the run. While we were at the water stations, a lot of them kept holding the cups even when it was empty. They seemed afraid to throw them on the floor and continued running that way, till they found a bin or a big plastic bag. I was so amused. Is this a Singaporean trait? I just threw mine on the ground.

Even though I arrived at the starting point late, I was happy to find out that I finished with a good amount of people behind me. I don’t really care about timings, just as long as I’m not the last.

While it was 5km longer,  it wasn’t as bad as I thought what could happen. The only small discomfort was that it started to get quite uncomfortably hot as 9 am approached. I was completely soaked by the time I reached the finishing line.

And here is my medal!

I’ve got quite a few medals now. I was telling Cartcart that if I get enough of them, I could hang them as a decoration on a tree or something.

Something odd that I thought, was that when we finished our run, instead of having our medals put on us, it was just handed to us instead, wrapped in plastic. No handshake, no pats. It’s not a big deal, but it seems kind of colder somewhat. But that’s to be expected with our reserved Asian culture I suppose.

After lounging around with fellow runners, I headed back home, utterly sweaty and disgusting but happy and contented with the runner’s high.

All in all I really did quite enjoy my experience in both races and I don’t mind participating in one again if I am back in Singapore.

Perhaps a halfie … or even a full marathon if I’m feeling ambitious enough!

Hi everyone!

After training since late December, I did my first long distance competitive run yesterday and I’m damn proud of myself. I’m amazed that I did it! I actually jogged non stop for 21 km at the Roma Ostia Mezza Maratona!

So the entire week prior to the race was so easygoing that I didn’t feel like I was training at all. It was basically a two 5 km run and then a 3km walk and that’s about it. Reason being that it was to let the body rest and be ready before the big event.

So I spent it doing a leisurely walk around the centro, going to the English Bookshop, then treating myself to some Indian Food and then getting a haircut. Feels like my birthday! I even made invite cards in the hopes that there will be someone cheering on for me at the end point. Which is probably overly enthusiastic, but it’s my half marathon and I’m quite excited about it.

On Saturday, the day before the race, my friends Alessandra and Rosella accompanied me in picking up my race pack at Casa Romaostia in Eur.

The air felt festive with so many people coming from all over the world. Getting my race pack was pretty much the same as the year before when I did the 5 km fun run and I spotted out an area for doing a sports doctor medical check.

I spotted this wall of all the names of the competitors in the race.

Sadly, I couldn’t spot out my name no matter how much I searched.

As always, there were a plentiful of displays selling and promoting gears and events. I had to glance twice on this particular one to see if my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

We had to snake through the crowd, and in the end, we went to a bar and spent the evening later chatting and gossiping over some aperitivo.

When I reached home, I quickly examined the pack. Among the things I got, was this eyecatching bright yellow Adidas tshirt and bib with my name printed on it, which makes it a lot more special compared to my previous runs.

Runners are categorised with different coloured bibs – the fastest are black, followed by red, then blue, then green, then pink and finally yellow. Well, it’s my first run, and I’m an amateur so there’s no shame being categorised as “the slow ones”.

If you looked carefully on the left hand side of the bib, there’s a chip which is supposed to record and compute the speed of your run as soon as you go past the starting line. There were a number of devices located at every 5 km or so which records the chip.

I’ve never seen one before, so I was quite fascinated.

I also had a membership card to a sports association and a runner’s club. Theoretically, I could utilize this if I wanted to join another competition till the middle of the year.

I was also given this huge-ass bag to keep my stuff in. Look at how big it is compared to the book rack beside it.

I had no idea what to put in it. When I was done packing in the end, even with my winter jackets and whatnots, the bag was still more than half empty. Obviously, we didn’t need to carry this during the run as there will be a truck where we can deposit it to which will bring it at the end point.

On the day itself, I woke up bright and early and feeling quite excited, like it was the first day of going to school.

As public transportation was a mess due to the half marathon – with closed roads, plus I don’t live walking distance to the subway that passes there, I asked Cart to drive me. I’m really thankful that he agreed to my request at the last minute and managed to get me there before 8 am. Cart isn’t a morning person, so it’s a big gesture for me.

And all around my neighbourhood, I could see signs for the oncoming half marathon and I feel so proud to be doing this. Running on the roads that I know, and recognize and regularly pass through.

I’ll always be a Jurong girl, but Rome is fast becoming my beloved adopted city.

It was so cold and frosty morning. I think it was even less than 10 degrees when I reached Palalottomatica. It was so cold that I was in a dilemma on whether to put my jacket in my big bag and hand it over to the camion immediately or stay warm and hand the jacket over only till the last minute.

In the end, I thought that I’d just wing it, put away my jacket, put on the disposable plastic poncho that was included in the pack and hand it over. I was cursing under my breath at how cold it was, but the poncho helped tremendously from the cold wind.

I took the chance to warm the body up by running around and doing stretches.

Nevertheless the air totally felt so festive, there were so many people in different coloured outfits, different shapes and sizes, different nationalities and different ages all ready to go. I even met a 77 year old man who ran faster than me! I’m so in awe.

Before starting a long race, it’s always a good idea to empty our bladder. And here is a shot of the long queue to the toilet and I had to wait a bit for my turn.

One needs a strong heart to enter one of these latrines. (I do not need to explain why) And in due time, we queued up accordingly in our corrals and waited for our turn to start.

In the picture above, the people carrying the balloons are pacemakers. Lets say if you wanted to finish the run in 2 hours like what was written on the balloon, you should try to keep up and follow these people.

Soon the sun started to shine and with the addition with being in a crowd of people, I started to feel warm up. I took the chance to take off my poncho and tried to throw it across the gate. Unfortunately for me, the person behind me played a prank on me and blocked it, and it hit on someone’s head instead. Oh dear!

And soon after, we were off! It was so festive! I felt a surge of happiness and a sense of pride running around my neighbourhood.

There were a lot of people who try to run fast and take over me in the beginning. I wasn’t too concerned though, as it is a long distance run, so I focused on keeping to my own comfortable pace to conserve my energy. Not too fast, nor too slow and most importantly to keep on moving.

After we went past Eur and entered through the Cristoforo Colombo highway, it was an interesting experience for me, as I usually drive here so it was a different perspective to be here on foot. On a regular day, I wouldn’t advice anyone to walk here because it’s really dangerous and there’s no regular walking paths here.

I saw interesting things during my run. If you wanted to, you could pick up free jackets and gloves and hats on the floor – stuff that the earlier runners didn’t want anymore. There were a significant number of men who stopped to pee and while I was running behind a couple, one of them farted in front of me. So nasty!

I also saw a woman running with her dog behind her, like a tiny bodyguard.

There was also one guy whom I passed at the 10km mark who was wearing a non-competitive bib, looking very confused. What was he doing there? Poor guy! He was probably supposed to be doing a 5 km fun  run and instead he did double!

We had refreshments at around each 5 km intervals. It felt so professional to be grabbing a cup of water, sip and throw it away nonchalantly, like how they do on TV.

It was a good run. while there were slopes going up and down, it was relatively gentle and I would have liked to have my route recorded but unfortunately for me, Endomondo couldn’t detect any GPS signal and didn’t record more than half my run.

As I hit 19km, I was quite psyched. As tired as I was, as disgustingly sweaty I felt, and FUNGRY as I felt, and all the pins and needles on the palms of my feet and my thighs, I was feeling quite motivated as I was excited to complete the longest distance that I’ve done yet.

By this time, some people were starting to slow down, looking half dead and some were even limping. I trudged on forward, knowing that the end is almost near. I could smell the sea! Which meant that Ostia Beach was really close. And not too long after, I heard a voice screaming, “Marina! Marina!” and it was my good friend Bahija who came to support me in the end.

And here is a picture she snapped of me! Oh my, I look so unglamorous. In my heart though, I was very happy that I had a friend to cheer me on 🙂

At length, I reached the finishing line! My thighs were screaming, and I had pins and needles on the palm of my feet but I felt really good to have completed the race. Immediately after that, I gobbled all the food and drinks that I could see at the refreshment stand. I was so famished!

Despite the GPS malfunction, I’m pleasantly surprised to have got the results pretty much emailed immediately after I finished the race.

In the end, I’m faster than I thought I was. I’m not super fast, but I’m just happy that I could do it in under 2 hours and 45 minutes – hypothetically considering if I gave myself a maximum constant pace of 8 minutes for each kilometer.

Plus! Considering that with over 12 000 sign ups for this race, I think I’m in a pretty decent position in 9k! By the way, how come I’m categorized under Italian nationality?

And so I got a medal for completing 21 km in under 3 hours!

I was so enthralled at completing my first 21 km run, I did a victory dance!

Wow, look at how red my face was.

Anyway, after all that fuss of rallying people to come, only two people came over to cheer me on in the end – my good friend Bahija and Cart. But it’s better than zero! I was really glad that they would take the time to support and accompany me.

And here I am on the phone chatting with some friends and family in Singapore, bragging about how I completed my run.

Aoh! Che sta’fa?

Another picture of me, for good measure, just because I look nice here.

We chatted excitedly all through our walk to the train station. By this time, I saw quite a number of people lying on the grass, probably exhausted or just resting. We also saw this interesting sight and I made Bahija pose and I pretended to take a picture of her but instead sneakily took a picture of this guy showing off his speedo. Sexeh!

While we were in the train, it is here when I felt the most aches after a long run. Oh boy, sitting down was not a good idea. I could feel my legs pulsating. My back was hurting and I started to walk like an old woman after that.

Interestingly I felt myself covered with salt crystals, which was a really odd feeling, as if I rubbed myself with sand. And as soon as we reached home, Cart made lasagna with pesto for me while I showered and surprised me with a maritozzo later on. Both stuff that I love to eat! I love him so much!

After that, I didn’t want to move too much and tried to keep my legs comfortable. I managed to catch the race on Rai-Sport TV featuring the top runners and I was so amazed to see the winner, completing the run in 59 minutes. How is it humanly possible?! I was so dumbfounded that I kept gasping and couldn’t close my mouth.

As evening came, I felt a little feverish. But I’m feeling better now after taking paracetamol and some rest. I think I overworked my body and got too much sun.

I’m not sure if you could see it well in this picture, but I have a bit of a tan line even though we are still in Winter.

In any case, I feel very contented with myself for being able to overcome this personal challenge. I never imagined that I could do a 21 km run, but amazingly, I did it! At this point of time, I’m not sure if I’d do the full marathon though. But I’m feeling so motivated right now, I might be crazy enough to do it!

I’m totally gonna wear my medal the whole day today and show off. I really don’t care if anyone gives me the side eye 🙂

This is Marina, over and out!

Hi everyone!

So during the weekend, I managed to run 19 km which is the longest run that I had to do in my training schedule. On the day itself, I was dreading it. Trying to postpone it or basically not run at all. 19 km is daunting! But there is no other time like now. And I told myself, if anything bad happens, like a sprain or exhaustion, just walk the rest of the journey. Thankfully nothing serious happened and now that I’ve done it, I’m quite happy of myself.

The rest of the training will get easier and taper down and I think I’m more or less ready in time for the Roma Ostia half-marathon come 3 March. To be honest, if you asked me if I could do this a year ago, mentally I probably don’t think I could. But after following the training schedule, it gave me more confidence that I can do it.

I mean,  after running 5 km, what’s another 2 km more the next time? Then after running 7km, it’s just another 2 km more. And before you know it you’ve hit 19 km already. Just another 2 km to go in three weeks time. I can do this!

I’m not going to lie and gloss over and pretend that everything was perfect, because it wasn’t. The last few kms was a bother and a pain. My legs started crying out and I had to slow my pace down because I really didn’t want to injure myself.

And then by the time I was done, I was sweaty and disgusting and the only thing that I had in mind was to lie down. So as soon as I reached home, I looked at the sofa and then the bed but didn’t want to dirty them so I layed myself on the floor for a good 10 minutes and waited for the pulsating feeling to pass over.

And then the rest of the day, I walked like an old woman with osteoporosis – complaining while going down the stairs as I can feel each step … sort of like when the little mermaid first got her feet. So much pins and needles!

Which is why, at this point of time, I don’t even want to THINK of joining a marathon. I feel tired just thinking about it. But despite all that, I haven’t regretted the past weeks. I feel really good about myself. I know that I have discipline and determination, that if I set my mind on something, I know that I can do it.

Health and physical wise, I don’t feel any different though. It’s not like I see a 6 pack on my tummy or I walk fast like the flash when I go around. But I’m just happy that after an intensive run, I recover and am back to almost 100% the next day.

Anyway, something interesting that I noticed after since starting my training :

1. I get fungry all the time. Now I can eat an entire plate of pasta, and then have space for a helping of something else or eat an appetizer and then a whole pizza with no problems.

2. Despite that, I don’t seem to put on any weight. Neither have I lost any. Cool! And that makes me think that I’ve reached the point where I can’t lose weight anymore. Cart thinks that my muscles are growing. My weighing machine has this function for measuring Body fat/Muscle/Bone density/BMI. But I didn’t have the foresight of recording them though! Would be interesting to compare them before and after.

3. I think I am quite flat right now. No T and no A. Even my smallest and most comfy bra don’t seem fit well and they keep riding up cos there’s nothing to hold them down any more.  Now I’m very tempted to just go out in public bra-less.

By the way, before I end this post, I just found out that they give a 4k prize to the first man and woman to reach the finish line each. Cool! And 25k for Maratona di Roma. How lucrative! I see why there are a lot of contestants participating even from overseas. A good runner could make a good living out of this. Although I don’t think I am able to do that! I don’t even care about timings. All I want to do now is just to make sure that I finish the race!

Sidenote : If you are in Rome on the 3rd March and are free on the day, you’d make me really happy if you’d rally for me at Piazza Cristoforo Colombo which is the end point. My first half marathon! I’ll buy you a coffee 🙂