Great Swim

You know how runners always get that high? It doesn't happen often, but we are all lucky enough to have felt it. Your body seems to respond. Your legs feels springy and light and your heart doesn't hurt and you just feel awesome. I've felt it enough to know that I love running. And today is no exception, except I felt it during swimming.

 I've felt it before in a swim. After struggling in the water suddenly it's like entering this 'zone' where you're just gliding through water. I was struggling the past few swimming sessions because I was so determined to 'correct' my swimming form to no avail, and today after struggling for the first 2 100m, I just, glided. Everything worked in unison; my strokes, my bodyroll, my balance were in sync and I stopped caring about my overturn and anything else. I just swam. And swam. It felt wonderful... like falling in love. hahahah it's true!

 I was so psyched that I continued till I did 1km. 

 10x100m of bilateral 5 strokes each.

PBIM 2009

The place we stayed, B-Suite hotel. It was a family room as the studio room was all booked. The hotel does not have its own restaurant therefore no room service which forced us to walk to the nearest shopping complex for dinner. We had Marybrown which isn't the healthiest of choices but well. I bought bananas and some oat drinks as well. But the room is well kept and clean and comfy. I love.

Me at 210 in the morning. I slept early; dozed off at 8pm and woke up feeling quite refreshed. I think I just ate a banana and was about to head out to walk to the mall. I was hoping to bump into other runners who would accompany me along the way. I ended up walking with this orderly uncle who wants to be called as PK and we exchanged anecdotes on our Annapurna Base Camp memories. I think he has done 9 full marathons.

Wish I could write 'hard earned medal' but to be honest I didn't really do any training and I walked for maybe a total of 10-15 minutes combined. I knew I could have gone faster! This is the problem when you were in a competitive sport before; you would want to try going harder longer or faster then anyone who passed you by. I forced my mind to think about how awesome for me to be doing this under 3 hours when I thought I'd finish waaayy later due to my knees. 

Things I want to write down:

1) I was kind of hoping that they have someone with one of those deep heat ointment because I so badly needed it during the race. Yes they did have 2 'stations' where they would spray those muscle ointment thingy but it didn't do much justice. When I was in the Mizuno Waverun, they had a guy with a huge tube of deep heat and it was useful and easier as I could apply the ointment myself and on any of my body parts as I wished without showing to other people (I had a nagging inner thigh ache when I was running in PBIM... no one could spray THERE). Also ointment would be easier to reach into hard to spray places, like the arch of your foot... where it was hurting the most! Must remember to bring my own ointment for the next race.

2) No Milo station! I've said this before - I look forward to the Milo drinks as much as the medal and certificate and finishing. I was already robbed of this luxury when I did the Great Eastern 10k in Singapore but I thought running events in Malaysia would have the Milo station since its... deeply embedded in our hearts ever since kindergarten. So all I did was ice my knees and feet, took my bag and then walked home.

3) The bagging system was a bit hassled. You know how you would receive a chip with the number your bag has on so it would be easier for them to locate your bag? Almost every place uses the system - the bowling alley, the library, gym - so it's a surprise when PBIM system consisted of just asking for our names and the description of our bag, which was why it took them about 20 minutes to find mine as I was using the yellow Digi bag that 60% of the participants used as well! Kudos to 2 volunteers who were energetic, chirpy and friendly even after looking for 2947728 bags all with the description of , "yellow digi bag."

4) I didn't really like that they gave out water bottles. I especially hated it when I see most of them were half empty and some were quarter full. What a waste! I feel like I have the right to feel indignant since I've been saying no to plastic bottles for 15 months now and hate to see excessive use of it anywhere when you're forced to use them. they could have given water in paper cups like most races.

5) This lady runner who sprinted like mad when going down the hill and later stopped due to knee pain. I was cringing when she was slop slop slopping down the hill. 

6) This lady runner who had a funny running form. It looked like her right shoulder is yanked by an invisible hand every 3 steps.

7) the uncle who shouted encouragements to runners at the roundabout near the finishing line. He was noisy and could be annoying but I enjoyed him. He was shouting in chinese but when he saw ladies in headscarves he went all, "Lari lari jangan jalan saja! Hanya 500m sikit saja!!" Loved it!

8) the run itself. I was going at a slow pace and carefully monitoring (or feeling) my knees and ankle. My feet or rather the arches started to hurt at 2.5km mark. And they never STOPPED. At times it got so unbearable which forced me to limp for maybe 1-2 minutes before I ran again. But I enjoyed it. When we reached 15km I was like wow really? It felt like a short distance. But then again, maybe t was because the run was in the dark without the heat. I might sing a different song in Standard Chartered!

bad knees again

my knees are starting to swell up. even after icing, etc.

 im starting to wonder if I could ever run normally again. and I've been running since i was 15.

 I refuse to even think it. 

 i am dreaming for the day to come when I run without piercing hot rods sticking through my knees and arches.

 pictures later!

I Did It!

And it was for me a great first time!

 I didn't know what to think, or what to anticipate. I haven't been running for 4 weeks if you count out the two races. I was not even in any runner's mode - physically and mentally. So to not freak me out I just pushed the race out of my mind. I went to sleep at 8. And woke up at 2am.

 I thought many things: I would faint, or collapse from exhaustion. I would suffer from the run so badly that every step is my mind screaming to stop and give up. I thought I would be running solo. I thought I would be running a horrible horrible race.

 But 21km didn't feel like 21km at all. In fact I was so surprised when we reached the 15km mark. I was enjoying the race with the runners all around me, some limping some eating and drinking and what have yous. My only regret (or complaint) would be that I have to slow down to a walk due to the relentless, unbearable pain in both the arches of my feet. It was so horrible that I walked quite a number of times... 5 or so. It's a bit disheartening actually; I've always wanted to finish a race running. I only allowed myself to walk when we were going downhill as I did not want to jeopardize my knees. But the arch pain persisted. I just didn't want myself to get used to walk in a race. And furthermore I read somebody's race reports that he too, had the arch pain but he pushed on and on until the end. It made me feel like a failure, somewhat.

 My time according to my RM10 wristwatch is 2 hours and 50 minutes. Which makes the pace to be 8:05 per km hahahhaha. But hey, with recovering knees, my maiden half-marathon run, and ZERO training (the LSDs being the 2 10ks), I consider this to be a great achievement. Kita tunngu bila lutut hilang sakit! hahahah

 Syukur Alhamdulillah!

2 more days!

I was realllly nervous the weeks before, but right now I'm a mixture of really nervous and totally excited. I have no idea what to expect but at the same time I know what I would be facing.

 I've gotten over the fact that I have not been doing any sort of training since I came back from Nepal. The only running I did was for the Mizuno Waverun and the Great Eastern Women. Other than that, the only form of exercise I did was a couple of slow walk around the vicinity of my neighbourhood and a lot of swimming. But although swimming is as good a cardio as running, it is not running. It is not going to help me mentally in terms of carrying myself for 21km.

 I keep telling my friends who know I am going to PBIM, "I cannot even imagine 21km. I have no idea how far it is and can't gauge the distance." The longest distance I ever did ever since I started competing was... 12km. And that was in a race. I have never attempted anything longer than that.

 But you know what? It doesn't matter. When I first started entering races, my target was simple: to finish a race. Well, my actual real target was to finish a race running, but for this one I'll go easy. I'm going to walk as much as I could and run as long as I could without seriously injuring my knees again. I know at some point I would suffer, my ankles would hurt and my feet would ache and my knees probably would be singing. I know my shoulders would be heavy and my lower back hurting and I would feel like stopping. but I'm just going to take it easy, enjoy the whole race, and say hi to people that I know or want to meet (hello fellow bloggers!).

 Two days back I was nervously googling about the things you should have when you run a half marathon. I always go to a race with just myself and my shoes. No water, no nothing. But 21km is a long distance. I'm thinking that maybe I should equip myself with some tiny muscle rub, and OSR packets to drink at the water stations.

 

 Also, the biggest misconception I had for half-marathon was that you don't really stop unless you want to drink. And you definitely don't stop to eat either. But the blogs have all these suggestions on food to bring, and some even suggest a 2-3 minutes break. I never knew you could stop and sit and relax! I always thought you'd.. well, just run non-stop! 

 Also, I thought that you had to hold in your pee too. It never occurred to me that you could actually wander to the nearest petrol station and do your business. I guess the race mentality in high school and uni is deeply embedded in my mind. You certainly don't stop mid-run during a 1500 race. And going to the nearby 7-11 during cross country felt more like a rebellious thing to do than a normal thing.

 I'm going to Penang with my sister who'd be sleeping as I am waking up to go for the run. I hope I get to meet some of the people whose blogs I've been reading. In case you don't recognize me, my bib number is E25121. Say hello!

 And Good Luck everybody!

 BTW, I swam today. 8x50m, 2x100m, 1x300m. Total 900m. Awesome session! I love.

Swimming 3k

I spent lunchtime at work going through the SwimSmooth website and staring at the animation for long minutes. According to Mr Smooth and the site, I have horrible swimming style. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I overturn when taking air, my strokes cross the midline and I do not have the 'catch'.  I was determined to at least correct my bodyroll today.

 The attempt was horrible. Obviously, a self-taught swimmer's not going to get any better with her form if she's the one teaching herself, and have no idea how she looks like in the water. I had to idea what I was doing. Somewhere in my 4th lap, I actually breathed in water through my nose and I was at the 25m mark. I had to struggle to the end, swimming short strokes and trying not to choke and cough. My breathing was awful because I was concentrating on too many things: my strokes to go straight, to 'catch' and to breathe with one goggle underwater. When catching a breather I noticed that all swimmers overturn. Finally after trying in vain to breathe properly, I chucked them all off and swam just the way I know how. I mean, I'm not going to the Olympic or even competing. I was just going to swim for as long and as much as I could for my fitness.

 I did 1000m of easy freestyle with maybe 2 laps of side drills. Can't wait to swim on Wednesday. No, I can't wait to RUN.

7 DAYS

My dad used to tell me, "The more you know, the more you don't know."

 I remember my first 10k race. Prior to that, the longest distance I ran was 3km. Tired 3kms. But I made it through 10km on sheer race-day adrenaline and perseverance. 

 And then I started to read running books, blogs, forum, whatever you have. And I started to do all the right running things - speedwork, hill runs, lsd, tempo runs. And that's when I found out that it's sort of impossible to do a 21km without training. 

 But at the same time I know of some friends who jumped into the 21km race without proper training, that I know of. They did it again this year for BIM with minimal training that running blogs would have a heart attack on upon finding out. One dude even did the full marathon and I think the longest LSD he did was 18~ km. He finished.

 In 7 days, I'm going for a 21km. I'm freaking out because everyone says it's not easy, especially the last 7k part. Mentally mostly, and your body takes some toll on it too. My serious lack of preparation as stated by all these running blogs and magazine is freaking me out, bit by bit. But  on the other hand I'm trying to remember these set of friends that ran 2 half marathons with just hard motivation. They didn't know that running without training was suicide.

 I'm just going through with it. I wouldn't know how hard it would me on the race, but I'll try my hardest to finish it, whatever time it takes.

 

cardio: badminton

What a tournament! haha.

 We came in third, all because we lost the crucial first game. Being in mixed doubles lets me know for the umpteenth time how much I hate team sports. I hate having to rely on other people for the outcome of the competition. Solitary sport, like running or swimming, is muuuuch better. If you lose it's your fault, and if you win, it's your triumph. Yesterday at the game it was hard because my partner and I didn't really have a good playing chemistry. And plus I have a lousy attitude of 'membolot'. I did that during my field hockey days. I always don't trust other people to do the work for me. I'm telling you, I'm the worst teammate in any sports ever. 

So we lost the first game. It was a boring set! 

 The best part was when other teams were playing, and I played a single game with Hameed. He was my friend in university, we took the same course right up to having the same final year presentation slot together. Hameed was actually a pro tennis player. But he'd played badminton once or twice. We started playing and it was awesome. It was supposed to be a warmup for the both of us before our game started but we were exhausted after the first set. We played a mean net play and both of us had each other running to other side of the court. I was drenched after the game. Tired to the point of ten.

Planned to go for a swim today but..

Have no idea what my excuse would be yet.

Boleh tak?

Easy Light Swim

Yesterday went for a swim after 2 days of being stuck at some work meeting in Cyberjaya till late. I went with a friend this time, and we decided to go to the nearest, 3k, because it is an indoor pool (it was raining). 

 I've always liked 3k pool. Maybe because I'm just so used to it, but swimming there feels so much smoother than any other pools I've tried since. Of course, in my opinion, nothing beats Shah Alam Aquatic pool yet - it's amazingly deserted even during peak hours. I think that would be one of my main criteria in choosing a good public pool. Others include:

1.  warm water
   
2.  even 10 ft depth
   
3.  proper swim lanes
   
4.  DESERTED
   
5.  separated for women and men
   
6.  open till 10 pm
   

I have yet to find one that has at least 3 or 4 of the above. UITM pool has no 5 and 6, but is cold as ice and is gradually sloping instead of being even 10ft. Shah alam aquatic center has no 2 and 3. Which I like cause you just feel professional. Kelana Jaya has no 1, a great surprise and a pleasure during these cold nights. 3k has... well to tell you the truth 3k has none but I still like it anyway. I'm such a creature of habit!

 I also realized that when it comes to sports or working out, I'm the solitary type. Bringing a friend yesterday was not exactly a bad idea, but it disturbed my swimming goal (to do 1km) because I sort of feel guilty leaving her hanging at the pool sides. She is starting to swim regularly but since she smokes so much she could only do a short breaststroke before getting winded. I usually charged ahead with my laps without talking to anyone but yesterday I had to stop in between laps so that we could talk for a while. I realized then how I enjoyed going to the pool alone and having nothing but myself and the water around. What a great release to be focusing on just your swimming. We planned to go swimming regularly but I hope she gains fitness soon so that she could join me in doing laps. I don't want to make her feel bored waiting for me to finish my laps.

 so yesterday was an easy 600m, left and right (or bilateral? or whatever), 5 strokes each. Planned to go swimming today but felt extra tired so probably Sunday morning would be great. I need to work on my form - found out that my stroke is bad: i sliced using my thumb, my catch is awful, my stroke crosses the midline, and I overturn too much when exhaling. Urgh, what a downer!

Kertih Video

 My friend is lucky enough to live in a cute apartment just 25 steps away from the beach of Awana Kijal. Whenever I have to go to Kertih for work, I would always take the chance to run along the shores. It's a nice feeling - it doesn't feel like a workout, you totally feel like you're the star of a music video and some hunk's chasing you (nevermind if in reality it's the abang jual kepok leko) and at the end of the session you get to dive into the ocean. The length of the whole stretch I think is just about 1.8-2km, nevertheless it was a bit taxing due to the wind and the soft sands. 

 I enjoyed it. Just as much.

Written 2 years ago: August 10th 2007

The thing about running that I hate is that no matter how good you had it before, the moment you become careless with it and it bites you on your butt back. It is so easy to lose the momentum of running and so hard to get back to the stage you were. I haven’t been running for the whole duration of my trip and two days back, thanks to my wonderful host who herself loves to run, I went for a run. And this isn’t some ordinary run - we went for a run at Hyde Park, a place I’ve only heard about. I felt like I’m on some sort of a luxury cruise for runners.

In school, people always assume that I love running because I am so serious about it. The funny thing is, what I love about running is totally uncalled for; I actually DREAD going for a run, I just LOVE the feeling I get after a good run. My friends mistook the enthusiasm I show everytime I want to go for a run for my honest love of running, in actuality, I just can’t wait to get that runner’s high. I get seriously wistful when I see other joggers breathing hard, sweat making their presence known on their t-shirts.

Everytime before a run, as I am tying up my shoelaces, or when I am wearing my sports bra, or even when I am walking towards my destination, I feel seriously heavy. The trick about running that I have never fully mastered is the skill of distracting your mind away from the running itself. This isn’t like swimming where every single second is focused on the breathing, and feels awesome. When you run, you don’t want to think about running. You don’t want to think about how you want to stop, or about the increasing tightness in your chest, or the stitches you’re getting, or how your legs feels like spaghetti. I usually succeed in thinking about something else for a few seconds, and then come back again to the thoughts screaming inside my brains - STOP! STOP! STOP! The only thing that could prevent me from stopping is imagining that a rapist is chasing me and I am gaining speed away from that motherfucker. Or other strong runners, be it aging grandmas, athletic women, or seriously hot guys with to-die-for calves muscles.

Today I am going for a run again and honestly I can’t wait. Not for the heavy breathing, or the shallow breaths or the rubbery legs, but for the after effects that will make me walk around afterwards like a moony lovestruck lover, smiles on my face and the feeling that I can be whomever I want to be, like, Marge Simpson.

knackered!

My usual daily routine starts at 520 am. That's when I usually wake up. I leave for work around 6-610, arrive in the office at 655. I'm usually tired at the end of the day. 

 Today, I vowed to go swimming. And I did. Planned to go with a friend but he bailed out at the last minute so it was just me. I jumped into the pool and did a straight 50m x 16 laps of freestyle, right and left, 5 strokes each. It was awesome to have your lungs burning up and your heart pumping. The only difference between swimming and running is that when you run out of breath you can stop and catch it if you were running but when you swim you have no way but to manage your breathing the best you could. But it was an awesome half an hour spent.

 I went to Kelana Jaya pool and i was told that the pools were open to both men and women. However, the pool I went to (they have 2) were all full of males. I swam there wondering why they are giving me weird looks and later, ONLY WAAAAY later, at home and finishing my isya' prayer that I realized: that pool is for males only. i mean, my friend who went there lately told me the pools are separated for men and women but when I called them in the morning they said it's only separated on Fridays. But apparently not so, as I found out today!

 

Starting again

That's one of the flight of stone steps we had to endure during my 10 day trip to Annapurna Base Camp. I think this was on the way back, and if I remember correctly, I was heading to Bamboo village. At this point even seeing 2 steps was enough to drain my energy. The best thing about this one was that you couldn't see another 3 flight of stairs up above. Only when you reach the last few steps of the first one that you could see the second and third peeking up, each one even longer than before. I was glad that I am a stair loving girl. Even during my field hockey off season in high school I would run up and down the flight of stairs at home for 30 minutes straight. It's the best way to get fit and work your legs at the same time... of course, you could always stop then. In this trip you had no choice but to brave through all. 

But one thing I noticed that doing these steps helped me a lot in my uphill run after that. Especially the Mizuno wave run - I overtook more people than possible when I ran uphill - to which almost all of them passed me back downhill! hahah. But I realized that running uphill for me has never been a bad thing - I never really hated it even when I ran in the TTDI hills, even in Bukit Tunku. I enjoy the huffing and puffing and especially the burning sensation in my thighs. 

On the way back from the base camp, I decided to head down with these 2 Nepali boys whom we've befriended along the way. They were around my age - 24, and friendly and speak English well. I wanted to go down with them because I was bored of walking alone plus I just wanted to go down as far as I could. The boys were FAST. I lead for the first part of the trek, and I was going faster than usual just so that they wouldn't think I was a sissy girl (hahaha ade jgk part ego) but when it was Mukhti's part to lead he charged ahead. I stumbled down a couple of times especially going down the stairs (at that time my knees were hurting steadily) but I remember it was also the only time I felt excited and, well, alive. I mean, I was continuously pacing myself and playing with my breathing and mentally motivating myself to keep up with the pace. I was so glad that I didn't give in and said, "Stop!" We arrived in Deurali in one hour - a good one hour less.

The crowd in Singapore. I was glad I joined this race. It was well organized, of course, but I think so were all the other races I've been in back home.  Two things were missing in this race that races back home had - Ice and Milo! I was a bit disappointed - I look forward to drink Milo as much as I look forward to the finishing line. Milo from the van always tasted sooo good and it's a great thirst and energy quencher after a run. Also, Ice is always an important part in a race - there will always be runners with swollen ankles or knees, like me. I had to request for an ice bag and had to wait for a while for the lady to get it for me. I sipped the isotonic drink slowly but not really enjoying it. I never missed Milo so much as I had at that time. Still, it was a nice race.

Me seconds before running. You couldn't see the patellar stabilizer I had on both knees but let me tell you that they worked WONDERS. My knees didn't hurt one bit. They felt sore after the race though but that's to be expected since I just ran on an inflamed set of knees for 10k, but it was as bad as the mizuno run.

Yesterday I walked to a friend's house instead of driving. It was my first attempt on a road training after the race. I guess the looming penang marathon freaked me out. It was a short distance - my online pedometer mapped it as 3.47km and true enough I hardly broke a sweat. Well, but at least it got my legs moving. I'm going to train as much as I could and whenever I could -  going to take the longer route whenever I can and walk instead of driving. I just need to get my legs used to the distance. I thank god that I'd done the nepal trip. We walked for about 6 hours a day. I think I could do another straight walking. I'm nervous though!

Going for a swim Monday. My friend the basketball dude hurt both his knees too, although worse - he got ACL, so he said swimming would be good for him. We're going to swim every monday and wednesday. I'm adding another day - tuesday - with another friend. I'm also adding kickboxing class again on thursday. Then that saturday I have a badminton tournament for my department - mixed doubles! Urgh, I hate mixed doubles. I enjoy single sets more. Well, what can you do, I'm just going to (s)wing it!

UNDERTRAINED

I'm freaking out.

 My first half marathon is in 2 weeks or so, and I have yet to cover any respectable mileage. AT ALL. I've only done 2 10 k races. 

 I'm going for a long walk today to get my legs used to the exercise again. And lots of swimming. and lots of kickboxing. maybe just boxing.

too lazy to write

so I'm going to put in pictures...

My dad posing before we head out to UPM at 545 am. He looks like an excited  7 year old school boy on his first day of school. He ran a good race, considering that the route had double hills at the end and that his knees weren't really good as well. He thought that the Milo and 100 plus drinks that were being served out weren't free, so he just waited there dying of thirst until I arrived (I had the money in my pants). When I told him that they were gloriously free, he was ecstatic. I think he must have had 10 Milo cups.

The Great Eastern Women 10k. The elite runners were in front of the pack. This was just minutes before the race begins. It was cloudy. I don't like running in cloudy weather. 

 The race for me was quite horrible. I didn't know why but as I was just starting I started to have that discouraging thought, something like, "Oh, I'm going to get so tired," and sure enough that was what I felt throughout the whole race. 3km was a LOONG distance to cover. I was so surprised at my lack of mental strength. It was a flat route mostly, for which my legs were grateful for, but I was kinda hoping some hills were involved. I like hilly courses, especially going uphill. I think I run even faster uphill than downhill. 

 When I reached kilometre 5, I felt lightheaded. I wasn't sure what the reason was; I actually nibbled on a piece of bread earlier in the morning when I never ate anything in any of my race before. They had drinks out ever 2.5k. I drank some at 5k. 

 I was actually struggling at the 8km. My breathing was a bit labored and I felt sick. The last stretch was near to the ocean so it was nice to see the sun peeking through the clouds. The whole time I was using this matsalleh girl as my pacer - she was running steadily which was was I need, and I told myself to not lose the sight of her. 

 The best part of running in a race for me is that - pacing. I like to target someone or a couple of someone in a race and then challenge myself to try to keep up or beat them. During KOTR, I had several pacesetters - and whenever I sped by one I targeted another one. I find that doing that appeals to the inner competitive geek in me - I get to compete with my pacesetters - and its either I win or lose.

 Anyway I'm going to retrace back to Mizuno run, which was a greeeeaat run. I wasn't even tired. I was pacing this girl in a blue headscarf and at kilometer 5 she picked up the pace and left me waay behind. But since the end of the race were just hills, I caught up with her. I was so proud - hey my knees were burning and throbbing like they're Brazilian dancers on fire.

 One thing helped me a lot in the Great Eastern with my knees. I went to this shop called Motion Sport in Paragon Mall, initially wanting to look for a pair of headbands for my boyfriend's shaggy hair during football, but I went out of it with this knee contraception called Patella Stabilizer. And it was AWESOME. My knees didn't even utter a squeak. After the race before we head back, my friend and I headed back to  the shop where I bought another pair for my dad.

 I'm having a headache... guess I have to cut this supposedly long entry with many pictures short. i know what a downer!

Energized

I'm back! 

 I have been terribly busy the past few weeks. I know it's a shitty excuse to use, but I AM really busy with work. My new job's amazing, but that's not what I wanted to write about. I'll keep this update short because I want to do a longer one with pictures.

 Last two weeks, I ran the Mizuno wave run with my dad. It was my dad's first official running event - and he was so CUTE! He laid out his pants and running shoes (I bought for his birthday) and knee guards and what not, and got excited when I gave him his running bib. He reminded me to bring my receipts and i.d for verification, cautioning me that it's important. The next morning he woke up at 5, told me he couldn't sleep really well. And he insisted that I snapped a picture of us in our bibs. SO CUTE. I was amused and happy and nervous and glad that I was doing it with him. 

Last week I went to singapore for the great eastern women 10k. The race was the worst 10k in history, but it was also a good one since I ran a good time - with injured knees, I mean! I was so surprised with myself. My timing in the mizuno run was bad - normal with my swollen knees and the hills and all, but the great eastern was also better than some of my 10ks, especially my earlier ones. I think with mizuno I did 11km in 1:20, but for the great eastern I did 1:06 mins. haha ok it's NOT FAST. But I haven't been running - the last time I ran was the mizuno race, plus my knees were so bad, and before the mizuno race I didn't run for weeeks.

 okay the phone's ringing for the third time. later!