Treadmill Running

I've been running for the past 3 days and on these 3 days I ran on the treadmill. Running on the treadmill is different from running outside. So what's the difference?

It tends to get pretty boring to run on the treadmill. You are basically running on the spot for the duration of your workout. In that manner, your mind tends to wander. At least mine wanders! :) But anyway, it really does get boring. Luckily for my school's gym, the treadmill has a television installed for your personal pleasure. Joggers have the luxury of not staring at their reflections in the window but at something that is ever changing. For my fellow school-mates, we get to watch local television. On Wednesday, we even got to watch Singapore's football match against Lebanon! Well Done Lions!

The other major negative of running on the treadmill is that you are exercising in an air-conditioned place. This is not good for your lungs I heard and the air is drier than that outside. So, in a sense, you may need to drink more often and I think long-term wise, it is not good for your lungs. Not really sure about this. Probably will do more research on this. :)

On top of these, I personally feel that running on the treadmill is different from running outside on the roads, especially in terms of technique. When you run on the treadmill, you just have to put one foot down in front of the other and the machine will move your foot back for you. haha.. On the other hand, running outside on the roads, you have to thrust yourself forward so that your body moves ahead of your front leg. I think in terms of the muscles used, it is different.

However, that said, running on the treadmill has the benefit of the timing and distance covered in the run. Whenever I run outside, I only time myself how long I have run but not the distance that has been covered. Usually, at the end of the run outside, we approximate the distance covered. But who is to know our approximation is actually right! Do you really know your speed when you run outside? Is it 5 min per km? Or is it 5:30 per km? Is your speed today the same as the day before? Are you sure it is the same speed? How would you know it is the same speed? Hence, besides running around a 400m track, you cannot possibility know for certain that you are hitting the speed you think you are.

Well, for now I am sticking to treadmill running till my running kaki (friend) is free again. Till then, keep running! or try lah!

That Lazy Feeling

Have you ever had the feeling of really wanting to run the day before a morning run, but when the morning came you just cannot pull yourself out of bed? Well, it happens to me very often. Haha.. This morning, I was supposed to meet a friend at 9.45am for a morning run of about 1.5 hours long. However, try as I may, I just cannot pull myself out of bed this morning. The level of fatigue I felt is beyond me! I just cannot wake up!

In the end, I told the friend that I was not feeling well, which in this case is true (haven't been sleeping well for quite some time). As usual, he was really nice about it and hopefully we do a run again some time soon.

Everyone gets lazy sometimes. Don't they? For me, it happens oh so frequently. Very often, my friends ask me to go for training or go for a run. But that lazy bum in me has this strangling hold over my will power. I end up bumming around, lazing away in my bunk or hiding somewhere in the school doing my own personal stuff. :P

Well to counter this lazy feeling, I have taken a few steps. One of them is to join in a team sport. I joined my school dragonboat team. It really helps in honing discipline. In dragonboat, as the saying goes, the chain is as strong as its weakest link. With that in mind, I trained and I trained with the team. Through my 2.5 years in the team, I have trained with great discipline and have almost never missed any trainings. ie the lazy feeling went into hibernation!

However, after leaving the team, I was all alone again. The thing with trying to keep fit is that I feel it gets really hard when you do it alone. During National Service, I had a few really good friends who will push me. In dragonboat, you have the team. But now all by myself, what am I to do? Fortunately, I have begun training with a friend. Nowadays, we meet like two to three times a week for runs and each run we would do about 40 min to about 1.5 hours. It's great to have companionship during your workouts. It has definitely prevented that lazy feeling from coming out from hibernation! So cheers to you my anonymous friend. :)

All I hope for now is that I will be able to continue to quash this lazy feeling of mine and today is just a brief cameo appearance!

What's up nowadays?

Ever since my days in the National Service, I have tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Through these years, I have taken part in 4 marathons and 2 triathlons. I've participated in the Standard Chartered Marathon since 2003 till 2006 but I took a break in 2007. Well, for these 4 marathons, I only put in considerably more effort in SCM 2006 which I came in at 4:48. The rest of the marathons, I finished in about 5:30, 5:45 and 5:30 respectively. Not that fantastic eh.. haha

Well, right now I am training for Singapore's first night marathon, the Sundown Marathon. I have been training for about 2 months with pretty long runs. In terms of distance, I have no idea how long I took. But in terms of time, I usually run about 40 min to about 1 hour 30 min. The longest I have ran so far is 1 hour 50 min. My personal aim for this marathon is to try to better my 4:48 time and hopefully beat my friend's time of 4:34. :P So hopefully come May 31st, I would be able to make a good time!

For those who have never completed a marathon, I do strongly encourage you to try one. In the past, I would never have thought of trying to run 42.195km. I always thought these kind of people are crazy. Pay money to suffer! hahaha.. I said the same thing at every marathon after SCM 2003. But nonetheless, it has become something which I sort of enjoy. :P So anyway, do try to do a marathon. Take it as a personal challenge. The feeling of triumph at the end of it all feels tremendous. Ask your friends or colleagues who have completed. They would probably say the same. Maybe Sundown Marathon is a little early, but you can consider signing up for the later marathons such as the Lion City Marathon and SCM 2008!

Hope to see you at the race! Ciao

My 1st Ever Post

Wow! This is my first ever post on any webbie EVER! Quite excited about this! Well anyway, this blog was created to share my experiences and opinions on all things related to my running life and other things. Well here's a little introduction about myself and my running life thus far..

I'm currently a Year 4 Undergraduate at a University located in the middle of town. Graduating really really soon. Yay! I have been pretty active in my life thus far, taking part in various activities such as Rock Climbing, Dragonboating, Running Marathons and Triathlons. I am a pretty big sports fan and I watch most sports on tv including rugby, a little bit of cricket, and even aussie rules!!! Not that I know much about these sports! haha..

Well my running records thus far:

• IPPT 2.4km - 9:06 min
• Marathon - 4:48 hours
• Triathlon - 3:03 hours

Well i do hope to break all these records one day. (i hope)

Till my next post, Ciao!