Magnummmm

This is a video taken on the way to Annapurna Base Camp and just short before I suffered the Altitude Sickness. I was asking one of the many porters going uphill whether to go straight up or wait until the sheep cleared. It was fun going up the trail!! I enjoyed this so much, right up to the scene of a dude peeing against the huge boulder rock (not in video). I saw one of the baby sheep with its two legs broken and it was literally just dragging itself downhill :( I cried a lot during this trip... Nepal would always remind me of animal abuse/torture.

 I'm slowly easing back into running and everything else this week. With swimming, cycling, karate, in-line skate, there's just so much equipment and rules you have to chug along or abide to. I always have to diligently pack the equipments for all the above sports the night before and my workouts could be ruined (or canceled altogether) if I forgot even one of the things. Running requires so little that I always feel so so so relaxed when it's my running day instead of any other day.

 I've discovered my pit-stop refuel: Magnum Almond. Ever since starting running slowly and really working on my meals and upping up my yoga, my appetite's been ravenous. Whenever I go for a nice run, especially with hills, I always reward myself with a stick of Magnum Almond. I couldn't believe it - when I was in university I couldn't even finish ONE. And now I could eat 2 in a row! Well, after a tough workout, that is. 

 I discovered the heavenly power of these Magnum Almonds in the middle of my bike rides with the uncles. It was scorching hot and I was downing plain water to no avail. A stop at the rest and relax had me beelining to one of the stalls for a nice mug of Milo Ais and what is this... Magnum Almond? Looks tasty.

 AND YES it is. Yum yum yum.

And now I have it all the time, after a swim, after a tough yoga class, kickboxing, what have yous. I even have it on the couch watching The Good Wife bonked on my cough medication. Simply eating it relives the moment when I worked hard to conquer the hills, the last km, the final lap, the excruciating pose, the tough kick punch combo. It tells me that I deserve this, every single tasty sweet, creamy drop of it.

 Damn.... I'm craving for one right now. Thank God I have the Magnum Minis in my fridge.

Running Withdrawal

"Let's talk about stress.

It is defined as a ratio of force per area.

Stress is when your muscles clench up, usually between your shoulder blades. It also applies to when you pronounce a word even longer and more defined than normal, more often than not to imply that the situation is serious. 

In everyday life, you stress out conversations to emphasize meanings. A stress test in material science determines which material is stronger by not showing signs of straining first. Stress to civil engineers is a computer software - STRuctual Engineering Systems Solver. What lucky fools. In the world of fashion, when you 'stress' your jeans, it means that you dragged some rough materials over them to achieve that semi-frayed, distressed look.

In an academic setting, stress has many possibilites. It could mean staying up all night blinking in the dark, going through equations. It results in either rapid weight loss or alarming weight gain. Hair turns gray. PMS cycles are frequent, sometimes faked. You body resorts to causing pain to alert yourself that your systems are frazzled. 

Stress: The gift that keeps on giving."

 I wrote that 3 years ago, when I was a student and dying over my final exams. Engineering was a tough course; sports was the only way I get to unleash all that wound up feelings. Studying after a great run, or running after a great studying session, both were rewarding. I get so tired to think afterwards.

 My knees still hurt. It hurts when I walk down the stairs. They throb for no reason when I watch the television. I eat medication like candy; I am on one everyday for the rest of my life from now on. My knees is more fucked up than Bart Simpson...

 On my calendar at work, today is my running day. I'm supposed to do a short 3.5km of speedwork, running in intervals of RPE 8 for 200m, 400m then 20 seconds more. It's a shoddy speedwork, but it gets my amateur heart pumping. I would be hating the warm up run. I would long to go straight home and read books. I would want to stop.

 Bet you don't know what you've got till it's gone. 

 I'm not having such a great week, even though its only Tuesday. My new job requires me to recall back technical terms I have left in second year. My new colleagues are friendly, but distant, of course, like all new colleagues are. I'm also juggling with some sort of a personal issue that defines adulthood. I'm worried and stressed almost all the time now. I miss running, getting my heart pumped like I'm about to die. I miss feeling awesome even for seconds. I'm feeling horrible and stressed all the time now. 

 Mizuno wave run is this Sunday. I was very looking forward to it because it would be the first race I would be running with my dad officially. My dad is very excited; his first race with an official t-shirt and all. He told me he's been upping his mileage now. I didn't have the heart to tell him I can only hobble to work. 

 The doctor that I went to told me, "Some people aren't born to be runners." He is talking about my legs, their bone structure, apparently I have this genetic bow-legged that was the sole reason why my knees hurt even when I play bowling. The x-rays of my knees were stark and scary - almost too honest and blunt - the wear on my left knee plus the obvious bow-leggedness that I only noticed then. 

 But. I'm still going to run. Maybe not now, but definitely after recovering.

 Anyway, that's a picture of me against the Macchapuchre Mt, fondly dubbed as Mt Fishtail by the locals. This was the first day of the hike.

 

Hiatus

I forgot all about it.

But tomorrow I will go on a 16 day trip to Nepal scaling one of the Annapurna routes (ABC to be exact). I've bought a pair of awesome shoe that could double up as a trail running shoe (good investment). I have yet to buy a sleeping bag. I wish we'd bought the pee funnel because woo hoo it's going to get coldddddd in the middle of the night to wake up and pee.

My running routine will go out of the window I guess. Nevermind. I'll start again from scratch. Nothing like a good challenge.

Can't wait to see the awesome mountain views.

Be good fellow runners! Looking forward to read all about your progress :)