Treadmill Rat 2

Another hour on the treadmill. It was a rainy and windy day. I was not keen to head outside. So I was stuck on the treadmill again today. It was not too bad actually, I could stare at my mirror reflection and look at my strides and try to focus on landing properly.

Dinner with colleagues at THE Cheesecake Factory. I had a Monterey Cheeseburger and shared a Stefanie Ultimate Red Velvet cheesecake with C -- Moist layers of Red Velvet Cake and Original Cheesecake covered with special Cheesecake Factory cream cheese frosting. OMG!

And pinched a mouthful of B's Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Creamy Cheesecake Swirled with Caramel, Peanut Butter, Butterfingers® and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups®.

I would need 3h on the treadmill!

Treadmill Rat

My 3rd day in SF, my favouritest city on earth. I finally discovered that there was a gym room in my hotel, thanks to B who pointed it out! Such a live-saver! My itinerary was packed and I did not have a chance to work out. Sigh.

1h on the treadmill from 9-10pm. Better than nothing! The distance tracker seemed off - too long.

Clumsy Ride

I got the guys to come cycling with me and try the route that I did the past Sundays with WY and group. We set off at 6am from Upp Thomson Road, and met George by chance. So we asked him to join us and lead the way. Off we went!

I was happy that I managed to climb the MF and SBV-NUS slopes. We hit Tuas, put on the big chain ring and maintained about 35kmh +/-. SL was doing very well and following George very closely. Alas, the clumsy me had a 0kmh fall when crossing the pedestrian lights at Arena Country Club - forgot to unclip! Duh. I landed on my right and scrapped my knee.

We continued our ride to NTU, and I felt tired barely pulling myself up the slope. And then I got dropped big time along Lim Chu Kang and Neo Tiew. My legs were tired, yes, but I had no idea why I was so far behind. I was already pedalling VERY hard and it was only 20-25kmh, notwithstanding some headwind. I discovered why in Kranji. There was a loud scrapping sound when I pedalled. The sound/ problem possibly became worse (hence louder) in the last stretch. I finally realized that my brake pad was brushing against my front wheel, creating the resistance and sound! Omg! I rode the last 15-20km with the resistance getting stronger and stronger! No wonder I was not moving much. Sheeesh!

We finished the ride, back to my car and had lunch at Longhouse. Then it was time to rush home and clean up the bicycles and head out to the airport.


Cycling Route:

6am @ Old Cycleworx (Upp Thomson next to Longhouse, the stretch of shophouses next to Shell)

1. Old Cycleworx -> Lornie Road -> Farrer Road -> Queensway -> Alexandra Road -> Morse Rd -> MF -> (there's a 7-11 at the foot of Morse Rd)
2. MF loop -> Pasir Panjang -> South Buona Vista Road -> NUS (left towards Central Library) -> Clementi Road (next to bus terminal) ->
3. Clementi Road -> West Coast Mac/ West Coast Highway -> Jln Buroh -> Jln Ahmad Ibrahim (Bird Park) ->
4. Jln Ahmad Ibrahim -> Tuas end -> Raffles Marina -> headwind loop -> Jln Ahmad Ibrahim (parallel AYE) -> Upp Jurong Road to Arena Country Club for a pitstop ->
5. City Harvest Church -> NTU loop -> Jln Bahar exit -> Lim Chu Kang Rd -> Neo Tiew -> Kranji (stop at coffeeshop) ->
6. Woodlands Rd -> Mandai Rd -> Mandai Columbarium -> Upp Thomson Road -> Old Cycleworx

Estimated 90+ - 100km

Rushed (Tempo) Run

Had a dinner gathering to attend, and tried to squeeze in a mad run before that. Attempted Canterbury, with the dark clouds and thunder in the background. Rushed through the run despite tired legs, and cleared within 50min thereabouts! Geeez, how did I typically take 1h 10min in the past?

Run done, another rush to shower and dinner. And unluckily got caught in the peak traffic that was so snail-crawling. Ended up almost an hour late for dinner, shoots!

Had to then rush home to prepare my bike for the early morning ride. Whoo, tiring!

Got Attitude

Did a very silly thing tonight.

Was late for swim class, drove all the way down to Clementi pool, braved the wet weather and peak traffic..... only to turn around and head home. I was 40min late, and I think Coach would nag big time. And I was not the only one who did that, Chris too!

Alas, Coach said, we had the attitude (right one), but better late than never, and should have plunged in. Oh well....

Sauna Run

It was a super humid evening. Post-rain stuffiness. All of us were breaking out in sweat within a few minutes of the static exercises! Before long, we were all soaked, and that was even before the run. It felt like we were running in the sauna, with beads of perspiration dripping off.

Then it was time for track. 10x 200m - dash 200m, then slow recovery jog back, all within 3min.

10 sets: 46sec, 41, 45, 42, 44, 44, 47, 49, 47, 44

Melting....

Vigilante Drive

Tonight we did our usual Canterbury -> KR Park -> Science Park -> SBV and up Vigilante Drive route.

For once, I actually ran and made it up the entire Vigilante slope without stopping! I usually just walked up the slope. I must have been so distracted thinking about work and trips and everything else that was unsettled and unknowingly trotted up. :)

Time taken for the supposedly 13km semi-hilly route: 1:28h.

Kapas Marang International Swimathon

Saturday 17-Apr 2010

So I foolishly tagged along a weekend trip to Kapas where my friends were taking part in an international swimathon, and which I foolishly registered for in the end. 6.5km open sea swim from Kapas island back to the main coastal shores of Terengganu. Fabulous. Because the cost of being a supporter was almost the same as signing up as a participant. And there was always the option of bailing out on a jet ski along the way. A prospect that looked inviting given my meagre swimming talent.

We arrived at Kapas on Saturday morning after a 10h coach ride from Singapore on Friday night. The island was one of many dotting the state of Terengganu. In fact, our bus driver mistakenly thought that we were on a dive trip to popular Redang, and almost dropped us off at Merang jetty instead of Marang! Kapas island had beautiful clear waters and a nice sandy beach. But the weather was relentless, and the tiny wooden huts we stayed at were, at best, minimally functional. At least the air-conditioning worked and there was free wifi in the dining hall. Malay cuisine was not my cuppa tea so I was not very taken to the goreng-everything food drenched in heart-clogging chilli padi and oil.

It was a lazy afternoon, with absolutely nothing to do until race briefing at 4pm. And then nothingness until dinner at 730pm. And then bedtime. In between, I had 3 showers to escape the heat, in vain.


Sunday 18-Apr 2010 Race Day

The race was 7:30am. We woke around 6am and went for breakfast, body-marking and deposited our luggage. Our bags would be ferried to the end point, while the owners attempted to swim their way across. Yip came over and gave me some pointers on where to sight, what to expect and so on. I was surprisingly calm, maybe because it was not a race for me. I was simply there to try to swim as much as I could. I had a pack of power gel with me but nowhere to keep it. So in the end I stuffed it into my sports bra swim top and hoped it would not give me abrasions.

The swimmers were flagged off. I stayed at the back pack. There were sea bugs in the water and I felt sudden bursts of numbing stings everywhere - mouth, arms, legs, body. It was very difficult to sight. I alternated between breast stroke and front crawl. Breast stroke allowed me to see where I was headed, but gave me motion sickness. Front crawl allowed me to 'relax' and conserve energy, but I ended up in all directions. A few times, I wondered if I had actually spun around and headed backwards! Until I saw the safety kayaks in front of me. The mountain peak that everyone said to keep in sight seemed to shift all the time. Sometimes, it was to my right, then my left, then ahead. Argh.... Then I tried to spot the line of white tents along the beach near the finishing point, even those kept moving from my right to left...

I did not see many swimmers around me. Sometimes another lone orange cap bobbed up nearby. The slower swimmers like us had many kayaks following alongside, very so often shouting out instructions to go straight, or right, or left. It was tiring work sighting. The sea was choppy as we headed further out. It was like Desaru, and we were being tossed around, up and down. Along the way, my power gel threatened to float out of my sports bra, and I had to keep stuffing it back.

I peeped at my watch, and it was only 1:30h. Darn, it already felt like an eternity but no end in sight. Why did we have to sight, why not have a row of guiding buoys to help us go straight? I was getting tired more from the sighting than the swimming. I caught a glimpse of an orange balloon floating in the middle of nowhere far far away. It was about the size of a ping pong ball from where I was. I guessed that must be the end point. The ping-pong never seemed to get any bigger or closer.

Pretty soon, I was sea-sick. Argh... I thought I could continue, but no, I was about to puke. In that spilt instant, I tried to figure out how might one swim and puke at the same time. Eeeeuiks. So I hung on to a safety kayak and rested. But that sick feeling did not go away. I decided to climb up the kayak and bail out. 1:46h. That was another story in itself. I tried climbing and hauling myself aboard from all angles, and finally did after 3 attempts. Seated in the kayak, I thought I might feel better. But no, the guy was not going anywhere either. He passed me a precious bottle of mineral water and continued monitoring other swimmers. Another kayak pulled along, and the guy said something about cold or cool. I finally made it out that he commented I was cold because my face looked white. Really? After all that sun and a crispy nose, and I could look white...??

That tossing on the kayak made me sicker, and I finally puked. Sort of. It was very unglam. Sigh. But I felt so much better after that. No more churning in the stomach. We rowed beside a big-sized swimmer, #556, who was using very heavy breast stroke pulls. He splashed water into our kayak with every kick, but seemed to remain in the same spot after 3 pulls.

Finally, my kayak rower asked if I would like to be on a jet ski instead and waved to one to come over. It was a police jet-ski! I managed to climb over without toppling any of them and plonked myself behind Mr. Policeman. Yoohoo! From that vantage point, I could see the choppiness of the waves, and the very off-course routes that swimmers were taking. If the end-point was a dot, swimmers were fanning out like a V-shaped radar sweep. Mr. Policeman pointed out some swimmers to our far left, and said they were easily 2km horizontally off from the finishing line. We patrolled the waters and I could see swimmers held almost stationary by the waves. We zig-zagged the waters, and I realised it was rather difficult to spot swimmers over the waves. One moment, an orange cap. The next moment, gone. We had to take care not to speed up and ride the waves, lest we hit an unsuspecting swimmer hidden by the crests of the waves!

We rode to near the shore, but had problems getting the ski inland due to the large waves. Mr. Policeman asked if I was ok to swim myself back to shore, and I jumped. Ahh, I had gotten my RM80 worth of swim, kayak and a police jet ski! Haha. But even that distance back was tough. It was like Desaru where the waves and undercurrents kept sweeping me off my feet, even though I was already almost on the beach.

I trotted back to the finishing line, mindful not to be confused with the actual finishers coming in. However, the organizers insisted on recording and accounting for all swimmers, and still gave me the finisher tee and medal. Well, ok, for modesty's sake, they had to make sure all the swimmers, especially females, were properly covered before we left the finishing line. So they literally tugged and pulled the t-shirt over me.

I waited at the beach for more of our swimmers to return before we went to wash up. The organizers had a few chalet rooms for people to change, but there was no water supply in those rooms. So shower involved an unglam group of swimmers mass-hosing ourselves openly using piped water from a giant water truck. The water looked murky, and no amount of hosing would dislodge the sand that was trapped in our swim suits, thanks to the tossing at the beach. I would leave out the intricacies, but suffice to say, it was kampong style shower.

Cleaned and changed, we went back to the prize award area where a post-race buffet was in progress. Rice, liquified curry chicken and cut oranges. The heat and humidity was in full blast and very soon, we were all dripping with sweat again. For someone like me who did not perspire much, seeing droplets of perspiration sticking to my limbs said much about the weather. Our bus finally came to the rescue at 1:30pm with much awaited air-con relief. The sea-stung eyes, heat and tiredness lulled everyone into a nice afternoon siesta, until we reached MacDonalds. Not everyone had a chance to lunch earlier, and Mac was like mecca to refugees. We raided the hot-fudge ice-cream and lunch-hour value meals. Raided, literally.

The rest of the 10h bus ride home was non-eventful, with everyone getting a well-deserved rest along the way. I did not swim as much, yet was eating as much as the rest. Oops. Would I return next year? Hmmm..... I had better work on that sighting and sea-sickness tossing!

Remedial Swim II

Rushed home to dump my stuff and bring bag for Kapas trip this weekend. Rushed out again in the peak evening traffic to swim class, sans car, and found myself handicapped by the rush hour and wet weather. Spent a good 10-15min waiting for the bus and eventually calling for a cab. And still be stuck in the jam, so a trip from Clementi to Buona Vista took me almost 40min (!!!) and $20. Eeeks.

Reached class 30min late, much to Coach's skeptical face. Sigh. Drills were ok, pulls and so forth. Luckily SL offered to give us a ride to Beach Road so I could stay through the class. Then we rushed through the shower and dashed to Golden Mile Complex. No dinner, and gobbled 2 steamed paus along the way.

A day of rushing and rushing.... I was happy to finally be on the luxurious coach and promptly fell asleep....

MF Hill Intro

Lynn said she wanted to try running at MF, so we arranged a hill run tonight since there was no YF tracks. We had quite a big group, some of them were relatively new to hill runs. We started off with an easy warm up to Morse Road and gathered at the carpark. The plan was to complete as many loops as comfortably within an hour. Everyone should aim for minimally 4 rounds.

My 6x loops:
9:13min, 9:15, 9:22, 9:55, 10:03, 9:57
Total: 57:48min

Someone could not break the 9min barrier, not since last year I think.

Wet Wet Run

It started pouring heavily just before our Safra run, but cleared up in time. Unfortunately, the rain washed away our hills and stairs, and we changed our route to Canterbury.

The post-rain haze was hanging so low, everything looked misty. In the short run, we alternated between humid haze, cooling breeze and drizzling drops, with the occasional distant flashes of lightning to spice it up.

Distance: unsure
Time: 1:23h

Ride of Many Firsts

We had a date again this morning, 6am, to complete the ride that was washed out last week. Today I experimented with the lighter gears and higher cadence. Of course I was still the last, a distance away from the pack. Sometimes I wonder why I bothered to run or ride in a pack when I am never with them. Sigh.

We started off from Upp Thomson and headed to Mt Faber. With great trepidation, I attempted my very first ride up Morse Road and the MF loop. I knew almost every turn and turf along the way up, it was not for nothing that we ran countless loops during Safra trainings. But it was my first time up on 2 wheels instead of 2 feet. *shudder* I started off Morse Road when KM came alongside and told me to drop a gear. Ok done. It felt easier, although I had an inherent fear that I would have no gears left to drop on a steep slope. I managed to pedal, and pedal, and pedal. Thankfully it was still early in the ride and my legs were still fresh. Click, click, click, the gears dropped. And yeah! I made it up the loop! *yoohoo!* First time was always memorable. :)

Next challenge, South Buona Vista 99-turns and NUS. Again, a route that I have run for years but never cycled up. Surprisingly it was not as tough. Of course Lynn and the guys stormed ahead. George was kind enough to wait and check on me. So I tried my best to draft him and followed his cadence. SBV done! Now into NUS. Rolling slopes checked. Past the Alumni House, I thought that we were turning right onto Clementi Road. Alas, no! We turned left onto another long slope towards the Admin Bldg. Uh oh, mentally flipped and was caught unaware. Dug in my heels and pushed up. There, done! Yeah yeah, 2 major 'climbs' completed. My very first attempt and broke my long-held psychological barrier of me tumbling backwards because I could not complete the slopes! *Whew*

Continue on to West Coast Hwy and Tuas. I was still on the small front chain throughout. On hindsight, I should have switched to the big chain on the flats. No wonder I was dropped, further and further away. The rest were all flying on the heavier gears. Ok, next time I must try harder!

NTU slope. Huff and puff and overtaken all the way. And we were done. Unfortunately, the road leading to Lim Chu Kang was jammed because of the cemeteries and people paying their respect. We decided to switch our route and turn right into Tengah Airbase and Brickland Road. To do that, we first had to weave through the traffic to the road junction. I had never cycled so close to the kerb and to the left of the double yellow lines, gosh! I was surprised that I could actually balance since I was typically scared of being near vehicles.

The rest of the way back was straightforward. Winding through Bt Batok Rd and Bt Timah. I was so near home, like 2km away, yet had to get back to my car. Ehh.... It was also the first time I cycled along Bt Timah to Lornie Road, all that rolling slopes. Ok, getting near, the end was in sight. Done!

Total: 91km. Time: about 4ish hours.

Long Night Run

Fatbird's Nighthawk Operation Friday night run 25km @ ECP-Coastal, 930pm. I rushed through my shower, grabbed some sandwiches from nearby Hans, and gobbled them while driving to ECP. Whew. Hopefully no indigestion or stitches.

Kien Mau was briefing the group on some training tips when I arrived. After some instructions on the route and group photo, we set off from Playground. My legs were ok and going at a good cadence. But the night air was extremely humid and still, and very soon, I was all drenched in perspiration. I kept refilling my bottle, and randomly had a craving for Geylang Yong-He tau-huay-zhui.

Although I was supposed to pace and guide the "mid-pack" runners, I did not see any. There were 2 very fast groups ahead, and another 2 small groups behind. And then there was a sprinkling of solo runners spaced out in between.

I reached the u-turn point at the first shelter along Coastal PCN. 1:36h. A quick check on my watch showed almost midnight. No wonder my mind was snoozing off. The return run was an auto-pilot all the way. I was trying to stay awake. Note to self- thankfully I did not sign up for Sundown, whew! Once again proven that any trainings in the dark (before sunrise or after sunset) was a no-no for me. ECP-Coastal was such a mental route, I would normally get bored and could not sustain all the way. Surprisingly, tonight I was able to run continuously without stopping to walk. To keep awake and distracted, I thought of my work plans and projects for the year. Soon I reached the hawker centre, then lagoon, then Mac, and the end was near! The time was almost 1am, I was tired and hungry.

Total: about 25km, 2:50h

Swim Remedial

SL and I got recalled by Coach for swim remedial class every Friday. Oops.

It had been some time since I was last in a Friday class. The intent was slow swims, focusing on drills and correction of techniques. Drills were tougher than swimming laps, in my opinion. We did about an hour-plus of drills and proceeded to swim.

Coach video-ed a snippet of my swim where my right elbow was dropping into the water before my palm entered. Hmmm. Ok so I had to focus on deliberately twisting my right shoulder a little more, and lifting my palm to my ear before entering the water. The action felt exaggerated, but surprisingly looked right in the video!

I had to leave early before the concluding sprints for Fatbird's night run. Oh what a rush...

Telok Blangah Loops

Target: as many loops around Telok Blangah hills as possible by 8:10pm (approx an hour ish).

Up the usual way, to carpark, then up the steep path that connects to Henderson Wave, and down to carpark.

I managed to keep a constant pace and completed 7 rounds within the given time. Although I was targeting 8 rounds.... oh well.... nicely done.

Time:
8:40min, 8:38, 9:11, 9:08, 9:22, 10:06, 9:36
Total: 1:04:44h.
Approx 9.++min per set

A Gutsy Wet Ride

I mustered enough guts finally to join "The Gang" for their early Sunday ride. That was after an entire year of hesitation, self-mutterings, and great reluctance. You see, they are known for their super early starts, coast-at-40kmh sessions (on the flats mind you, not downhills), long & punishing climbs and few pitstops. Enough reasons to keep me at bay for months. I, too, had ample ammunition of excuses why I should not be there.

So it was with immense courage & guts (and some mouthfuls of alcohol at a party the night before) that I said yes to turning up. That was only after GiaYee said that she would go too, and we agreed to keep each other company at the back. And after we appealed to Winnie's innate maternal instincts to look after us on the ride. I tried to persuade Val for some guts-company, and she wished me luck! I was not totally convinced that I was not on a suicide mission.

I went home to prep my bike. It was in hibernation since IM-LKW for an entire month. I had to replace my seat post screws, fixed on new lights, lub the chains and pump the tires, plus an assortment of logistics. I even had backup plans and packed in my running gear, lest I got dropped along the way and could head for a run at MR!

I woke up before my alarm went off. Touched forehead, no fever. Stretched my limbs, no soreness. Looked out of the windows, no rain. Checked pulse, still breathing. Uhh... darn, no more excuses. Ok here we go!

I gobbled a sandwich as I drove to Upp Thomson Road, but did not know exactly where the old Cycleworx was. I called a few people, and probably roused Doctor from his sleep to give me directions. Then I saw WY's car and followed. GY had not arrived, and I started to panic. Hopefully she was coming, or I could say goodbye after the first junction!

We started the ride around 6:15am. I had never done the Lornie-Farrer stretch before, and the rolling slopes, dark skies, and trying to keep up was stressful. The guys took turns to sweep (I was last), which was very helpful. It started to drizzle, and before long, became a downpour. My sunblock stung my eyes, and the rain wiped out the vision on my shades. Someone should invent wipers for eyewear!

We took a pitstop at a coffeeshop along Alexandra Rd (next to AIA) and ordered some drinks. Whew! I needed to calm my nerves. The rain lightened and we continued. It was cold initially, getting into the wind whilst still wet. We skipped the MF and South Buona Vista climbs because of the wet roads, and proceeded to West Coast Hwy. The skies kept up a light drizzle throughout. I was at the back and immensely apologetic to those who had to go slow behind me to sweep. Somewhere along Jln Ahmad Ibrahim, Rynn's tire burst so we stopped to get it fixed. KM told me that I was sort of micro-adjusting my handle bars such that my bike was not going in a straight, smooth path. KH and WY also mentioned that I was on very heavy gear. Hmmm.... good points, I started to observe my ride.

The rain started pouring in Tuas, and by the time we finished the hockey loop, we were drenched again. The group took the opposite direction of Jln Ahmad Ibrahim to NTU. Interesting, I normally took a right turn into Pioneer Road and back towards Jln Buroh to head up to NTU.

This was truly a hardcore group! Nobody wanted to abort the ride even as the rain pelted down again. I was in half a mind to bail out in a cab, only that there was none in that ulu part of the island. Haha. So we rode, braving the winds and rain and poor visibility. We had a quick toilet break at this country club along Upp Jurong Road and moved on.

I braced myself for the NTU loop. It was already scary coming down the long slope on a dry day, let alone a washed-out morning. Up, up, up, and then hung on to my brakes for dear life all the way down. Sucked in my tummy instinctively, as if that would help to slow the bike. My shoulders and upper body were all tensed up throughout the ride.

Traffic was heavy along the LCK cemetery stretch, with road marshals and cars going in all directions. One taxi recklessly did an u-turn as our riders were going straight, narrowly missing a crash-in. WY got in front of me and asked me to draft him along the open road. He held a good speed, but I was afraid of getting too close and not being able to react in time if he braked. We weaved through Neo Tiew, again a slightly different route from my usual and stopped at the Kranji coffeeshop for a drink.

Finally, out to Mandai, and the skies cleared up! There were many cars along the Mandai columbarium and subsequently Thomson Road, and we snaked through the vehicles. Before long we were back at our cars. My little car never looked chirpier.

Survived!, albeit because of the rain and their supposedly recovery starting out pace. Now I could breathe. Whew.

Total mileage: 80+km.

Muscles in protest

The thing about running a trail was that you would be sure to complete it. Because there was no taxi bail-out option along the way! So in my over-zealous mode, I emailed the MF forum with an open invitation to join me on my Good Friday morning MR run. Planned a 20km route from MR to Zhenghua and back, reminiscent of TNF. After last night's knee protest, I was not sure if I could run properly this morning. Perhaps a decent 1-loop trot but not more.

As it turned out, 4 runners joined me - Graham, Yong, Arthur and Luke. Oh bummer, no way to back out now. So we ran. Yong & Graham were the fast ones, Boston qualifiers and they were about similar pace. Gave them general directions and off they went. No sight of them until major checkpoints, like the Ranger Station and some trail branching points.

Arthur wanted to do a slow relaxed pace, which suited me just fine. My hamstrings and inner thighs were so sore, every step hurt. Lower calves were burning too. I took an extra 4min to complete the Northern Trail, and had to stop and stretch at the Ranger Station. Sorry guys, they had to wait. Then I brought them out towards the Tree-top/ Bukit Timah trail and Rifle Range Road. Except for Yong, the rest were first-time on this route. Luke u-turned around Rifle Range Road, while we continued.

We reached the main road point to cross into the MTB trail towards Zhenghua. Deja vu of TNF! I wondered what categories there would be this year. But anyhow, in my current state, I could not have done anything more than 15km. Ouch. We turned back at Zhenghua Park, and promptly lost sight of the 2 fast guys.

The last bit back through MR was a downer. I stopped to walk a few times, and then I saw Jacky. Both of us exchanged sighs and grouses, and ran together for a bit. I thought the guys had gone off by now, but they were still waiting for me! Ooops, they must have waited long. 2 fast veterans waiting for me returning in a not-too-glam manner. Eeeeps!

Time to rest and sayang my poor butts and legs. Glad my knees did ok, the massage last night really helped immensely. The rest were purely muscle soreness, the kind that you would get after an intense gym session. They should recover by themselves after a few days. Whew.

Half Swim & SOS

Sprints after an ultra run were just asking for it, retribution. Knee felt bad last night after the trackwork. The sudden sharp jabs under the knee caps that were so familiar to my injury 2 years ago. I could not trigger the pain so I had no idea how or what positions caused it. Typically some minute sideward movement of the knee, like when I sat down and stood up, or sat down and moved my legs. Very random. :(

No running tonight. Swim class. Should be good for the legs. How very wrong. I was too tired to swim properly, legs too heavy to float. Strained knee felt locked and I could not kick properly. Random breast stroke kicks were bad. Front crawl kicks hurt somewhat. After an hour of getting dropped even in Lane 1 by swimmers slower than myself, I bailed out.

Called Victor for SOS, he managed to squeeze me in at 9pm. I met Chin KK there, getting his painful rub-down just before me. Eeeuouch, tonight's massage was painful! My ITB and inner abductors and hamstrings and whatever there was on my legs were sensitive to the touch. Victor diagnosed that the quad muscle that went from the outer butt to the inner knee was the main problem (it controlled side movement and rotation of knee), as well as the other tight surrounding muscles. Knee felt looser after the pain, yeah.

I was soooo paranoid, especially since it was an old injury spot that last 8 months previously. Better be kiasee and preventive than cure. Oh oh precious knee.