Joy and Nomi took the plunge and signed up for their first 10km running race ever in May 2010 in Singapore at the Sundown Race event...Then they trained for a half marathon in the fall of 2010, Joy's in Canada and Nomi's in Malaysia...Then, they finished their second-ever half marathon in Singapore May 2011 at the Sundown Race event, but this time they ran together!

Then their sporting paths diverged: Nomi went on to run marathons while Joy learned how to ride a bike. This blog charts their progress from 2010 to 2012.

Read their blog to see what their sporting adventures look like or just look at the pictures of Canada's capital city and Malaysia's capital city. You can choose the "follow" option or subscribe via email to be notified of updates. (You can start reading/skimming their first entries from the summer of 2010 or just jump right in, reading from any point you like. The "Archives" will be your guide.)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

A Slice of Reality

Joy here...On October 17, 2010 I ran my very first ever half marathon, and I ran those 21kms in around 1 hour and 50 minutes.  This weekend, on January 29, 2011 my long run was also around 1 hour and 50 minutes.  So I have a pretty direct comparison between the end of October and the end of January, a mere 3 months later.
Me finishing my 1/2 marathon in 1:49:47.

Here are some of my thoughts from that Saturday's run, my first 110 minute run since the half marathon:
-30 minutes in:  Oh my god, I'm not even 1/3 of the way yet.
-40 minutes in:  Oh look, pretty snowflakes.
-50 minutes in:  When I reach that bridge I'm going to stop and eat something before I die.
-60 minutes in:  Chomp, chomp, chomp...mmm cold, GU.
-70 minutes in:  If this was Tuesday's run, I'd be stopping now.
-80 minutes in:  Get outta my way with your stupid dog!
-90 minutes in:  OMG...huff, huff...if this were my 30km race, I'd only be halfway done.
-100 minutes in:  Okay, I'll do another five minutes and then turnaround and aim for home.
-110 minutes in:  I think I have arthritis in my hip.  Hobble, hobble.

It was a long, tough slog.  My husband is sick with H1N3 (some new variation of H1N1), so while he was at home under covers on the couch, I was out there proving that I'm not as fast or as fit as I was in October.  Yay.  Lucky me.  Great.

Here are my workout stats since Tuesday's run:
Wednesday:  REST DAY (read:  I was too lazy to get out the door)
Thursday:  Spinning Class:  Rode for 55:10:56 with an average heart rate of 137 beats/min.
Friday:  REST DAY (read:  I was nursing the sick hubby)
Saturday:  Ran for a total of 1:50:29 for a distance of 17.72km with an average pace of 6:14min/km.

So that's a whole min/km slower than in October and a good three-ish kilometres shorter overall.  If anyone tries to tell you that once you've run a half marathon (or a marathon, or a 10km or whatever) that you will just somehow magically retain that fitness, they're crazy!  It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of training to keep in shape, and back when I did that half marathon, I didn't even feel all that fit, fast, or in shape.  I guess perspective is everything.

Over and out,
Joy
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