5km Test Run

Attempted a short jog around Safra. Dragged Alber along for the company. We did Depot Rd, Alexandra, Telok Blangah and Henderson, a 5.20km route (according to mapmyrun.sg). I strapped a patella guard tightly around my knee for support and off we went. Knee felt ok for the first 10-15min. Then it started feeling a little tight after 20min. I stopped about twice to stretch, part of the pain being masked behind the patella guard. I experimented with different foot strikes to test the pain distribution. Finally made it back to Safra after 38min (Sheesh!), just in time for Alber to join in the hill training tonight.

I went to the pool, the water looked murky. One of the filters was not working. No wonder there were so few swimmers tonight. I jumped in anyway and tried to do some laps. But water visibility was very poor, you could hardly see the swimmer ahead of you until it was too late - collision! Well, that did happen. Melvin Lee (Jr) was swiming too (he forgot his running shoes!) and we collided into each other from opposite directions, shoulder to shoulder bump. Haha.

I gave up after 10 laps and went to the smaller training pool. The water was equally cloudy, I guessed it was a central filtration pumping system. Did drills in the training pool - catch up drills and kicks. Coach sent me videos of my swim from last Friday. My hands were flaying too widely and away from my body. My legs were sinking, almost. So I had to pull closer and kick harder.

Rushed to the airport with Alber after Safra training. My little sister was going to Oxford tonight for her 4-year undergrad studies. The whole family was at the airport for the send-off. How exciting, a new phase of independence and experiences!

10-min Jog

Finally had a chance to go for RPM class tonight. I reached the gym early enough, so thought I should go on the treadmill and try jogging. I survived 10plus minutes, slowing increasing from 5.5 to 8.0 kmh. I was not sure how much pounding my knee could take, I did not dare to try jogging farther. Maybe I would try jogging again tomorrow.

It was time for class. It was shocking how quickly one's cardio strength went downhill. The last time I did a RPM was weeks ago. It was quite a torture tonight as I tried to pedal hard. I was also subconsciously holding back because of my knee.

Sea Swim

This morning we were at ECP F2 for a sea swim. There was a sizeable group of swimmers from his other classDavid had set up the buoys to mark out a 350m route. There was a safety boat and 2 life guard assistings him. We had to do a warm up loop - tough with all the currents. I did not seem to be moving at all. For the drills, the fastest group had to do 5 loops, the next group 4 loops and so on. My group was instructed to do 3 loops. I barely completed 2 loops.... We had to do another set of loops, and again I only finished 2 loops. Too tiring! And totally sleepy the whole day.......

Joyrider Session

Met Richard at 7am at the Longhouse for a morning ride with Joyriders. I parked at MR and cycled down. There was a huge group of riders from various groups. I saw Adrian, Mika and some others. We started soon, and of course the ride was anything but joyful, not at their speeds of course (which I could not catch up at all). I was dropped right from the start. Ha.

Richard brought me through Thomson to Serangoon, Sengkang, Punggol, Tampines, Pasir-ris, Loyang and Changi Coastal Rd. It was actually quite a pleasant route with little traffic and vast fields. Unfortunately, Richard strained his back and we had to stop at ECP hawker centre. Luckily we met my friend who was able to send Richard back. I walked further to Big Splash before finding a cab back to MR.

Yellowfish Swim #2

Today we did new drills (everything was new to me). We did side kicks, catch-ups (hands touched in front before pulling away - which I could not), kicks, some mixture of butterfly-and-freestyle pulls, long swims, and sprints. I totally enjoyed the long laps. 2h passed by so quickly. A big group went for dinner after the class.

Swimming Against Flippers

My colleague, CP, was hosting us at his place for dinner. Lovely place, I could so rent an apartment there and stay, so cosy. So after work, rushed to collect my bicycle from Rodalink before dinner. There were some funny sounds from the crank when I pedalled and the shifter jumped, so I sent it in last weekend. Ah Wai very kindly tested, rode, and tuned everything. Seemed ok when I test-rode the bike tonight. He liked my bike and offered to buy it second-hand if I was selling it in future!

Then I popped by CP's house for a swim. The pool was slightly less than 50m, but rectangular and enabled laps. I had time for only about 20-odd laps. There was a guy swimming next to me. He was quite fast. So I thought I should try to keep up, but he went faster and faster.... Ah-ha! Then I saw the flippers on his feet. Ahhh.... no point giving chase.

Monthly Eats - Ming Kee

It was time for our monthly 'try new good food'. Tonight's destination was Ming Kee Live Seafood Restaurant (556 Macpherson Road), for crab bee hoon. Menu for the night:

- iced cucumber with wasabe dip (refreshing but I could have done it myself at home)
- nai bai vegetables poached with 3 eggs (also a comfort food to me :))
- frog legs with chicken essence (soup stock was tasty enough, frog leg succulent)
- mussels stir-fried with egg-tomato gravy (no comments, I don't take mussels, but looked good. Other tables had steamed mussels)
- mongolian pork chop (no complaints)
- crab bee hoon (dry) (wow! bee hoon totally infused with crab's taste, v good!)
- steamed shark meat (generous big platter of shark meat, and bits of shark's fins still attached)
- yam paste (again, no complaints, just nice, not too sweet)

Plus 3 bottles of wine...... Sleepy....... after all the indulgence.
Plus no runs, guess where all that extra calories would lodge themselves....... Oops.