Not that I am a fan, but with the hubby's enthusiasm, I've started to pick up a little on the World Cup Fever that has seized the World.  Hanging out with a bunch of football fanatics, I could almost pass off as one - almost. 

Here were a couple of blunders that gave me away for the football ignoramus that I am:

Me: (as I looked at the screen and saw that Germany was one up - this was several matches back) Yay!  Germany scored a goal!  Erm... which colour is Germany?

Or in another situation when the hubby and I were talking about the Australia vs Italy match:

Me: Poor Australia.  That was such a rough cut.
Hubby: Yeah.  Bloody Italians damn cheats!
Me: Yeah - bunch of sliders!
Hubby: It's "divers", dear, not "sliders"...

Then again in yet another conversation while watching a match:

Me: I wonder how they control the direction of the ball when they head-butt it.
Hubby: (laughs) They don't "head-butt" the ball, they "head" it.

But other than that, I think I'm getting the hang of it all.  I even know what "off-side" is now.  And yeah, it's "off-side" not "off-site".  But then, nobody hears the mispronunciation - until you write it out...

During the post-race discussion, SKT suggested that I stick to a routine of running 2km a day, 6 days a week. 

"Do that, and I guarantee your race time will improve," he said.

I was supposed to test the results of this "training" suggestion at the next race - the 10km category at The PJ Half Marathon. 

Regrettably, I have since discovered I'm pregnant so there will be no more races for the next nine months and no chance to test this for a while.

Anyway, in theory, after one month of running 2km a day, 6 days a week, the distance is supposed to be gradually increased.

Anyone care to tell me how it goes?

Call it petty, call it whatever you will...

Sometime back, I read in The Star that only the top 30 women will receive a medal for completing the PJ Half Marathon.  Since I am unlikely to ever make it into the top 30 with the kind of commitment I give to my "training" schedule, I've decided to stop wasting my time with this race.

Well, since I'm pregnant now, I guess that rules out running altogether, anyway.

A tad overdue, but here is the low down on the Pacesetter's Race:

Sunday 21 May 2006

Actually, I should begin with the day before...  As usual, full arrogance in play, I gave the race as little respect as I would have given any regular 10km race not organised by Pacesetter. 

We went to watch "The Da Vinci Code" at GSC 1Utama and then went over to PL & J's house for supper.  By the time I got to bed, it was 2am. 

Having spent the earlier part of the day in Brandi's class, I was pretty beat by this stage.  It was quite evident when I mistakenly set my alarm clock at 5:45am thinking I had set it for 5:15am. 

Despite the shortage of restful hours, I woke up immediately to the alarm feeling more alert than I ever did on any other race day.  I was up the moment I switched off the alarm without even an indulgent stretch in bed.  It was probably just as well, since I had fifteen minutes to get ready and arrive at our usual meeting area.

It wasn't until I received a "wake-up" call from SKT (actually, it wasn't so much of a wake-up call as it was a "just-checking-if-you're-on-your-way" call), when I realised my alarm clock mistake. 

I hit double time with the lathering of sun screen, took two pieces of bread into the car (all the while regretting that I had left my Power Bar at the other house) and left the house.  I made it to the meeting point at five minutes past six, just in time to observe G parking his car.

My bread was extremely dry and I had a difficult time swallowing it.  I forced it down all the same, for even I did not have the audacity to attempt 15km on an empty fuel tank.  Luckily, SKT had a spare Power Gel that I gulped down gratefully.

Once again, I had succeeded in undertaking almost zero training for this race, and I paid for it with a substantial drop in my timing - clocking in at 1hr 55mins.  It took me 1hr and 18mins to complete the first 10km (an extra 8 mins more than my 10km timing).

The only good thing I can recall about the race was that the double-hill was a lot more comfortable than I remembered from previous races.  I don't really know if I can attribute that to past race experience, the fact that I began with a slower running pace, or that there was an improvement in my incline tackling abilities. 

My biggest failing in this 15km race was my underestimation of the additional 5km.  Most of the races I normally attend are 10km in distance, so I thought, what's another 5km?  Now a half marathon of 21km - that is a respectable distance. 

Humbly, I eat my words.  After wobbling across the finishing line with legs feeling like jell'O, I promised myself that I would never discount a 15km run as a game to be trifled with.

Even so, the pain was worth it - every last meter just so I could have this:

My precious!  The reason behind which I race...  This little piece of pewter to mark all my past glories. 

Perhaps an absurd reason, it is my reason nonetheless... 

Brandi's workshop started at 10am on a Saturday morning.  It was quite a task to wake up so early as I had to follow the hubby to work first before he could drop me off at Camp5.  We were house sitting for my in laws and I didn't want the long drive home after our movie that night.

The session started with some warm up exercises just to get the joints moving and to minimise injuries.  We followed these with some stretches by hanging on jugs on the walls.  I was starting to get pumped by this stage, and I was sweating from the heat of the sun blasting through the full glass panels at the lead wall.

We went down into the boulder cave and Brandi took her through a series of exercises to gauge the level of our abilities. 

The first exercise was on a slab requiring us to traverse from left to right using only our feet and our left hand.  The right hand as allowed to palm the wall, but not use any features or holds. 

The second exercise was a repeat of the first but using our right hand instead.  The third exercise - yup, you guessed it - hands free.

I had to thank Coverboy for his extensive lessons on the importance of foot-work and balance, for I made it through this section fairly easily.

The next exercise took us to the "high ball" wall - my least favourite area in the entire gym because I'm scared of heights.  I tend to freeze when I get to three quarters of the way up, unless the holds are just bomber. 

Brandi wanted to test our ability to handle slopers so she gave us the problem in the picture above that SN is working on.

I bombed at the orange hold because I got scared.  I was pretty sure I could hold it, but fear got the better of me and I refused to let go of my right hand until my hands were so pumped I couldn't hold on any longer.  Even though I knew I could fall safely from that height (as I did when I jumped off the first time), I still couldn't overcome that stupid thought that I would rather jump down deliberately rather than allow myself to fall making a move.

Move that orange boulder one meter closer to the ground and I am almost certain I would have committed the move.  Whether I would have succeeded or not, was a different question altogether.

The fifth exercise required us to do a relatively simple boulder problem and find as many "hands free" resting points as possible.  The trick was in finding the "hands free" resting points - which is obviously a handy skill to have up your sleeve.  I think the most anyone managed to find was about 13.

Core strengthening exercises dominated the rest of the morning up until lunch.  The first of these required us to hold onto two jugs at the base of a roof.  We had to lock our arms and swing our legs up to kick two spots on the roof - first with the left leg, then with the right leg and then crossing over with each leg.  We had to repeat this twice.

Needless to say, only AR, a.k.a. the man, managed to do repeat the example that Brandi had demonstrated.  And since she succeeded quite easily, her next task was to hold her foot on each hold for a moment before letting it drop.

The rest of us were given a slightly easier task where we had to hold two jugs and extend our legs out towards a vertical wall.  For twenty seconds, we had to walk our feet around the wall.

In the picture above, S was working the second exercise, but I think you get the idea.

The group watched Brandi attentively as she demonstrated how to make the exercise harder and easier according to our body lengths.

Then we each had to take turns practicing the exercises.

After this, we broke off for lunch, where I pigged out heartily on a hotdog and waffles with ice cream.  I was a little embarassed that everyone kept noticing how much I was eating.  Perhaps I ought to have guessed by then that something in my system was up...

We came back to Camp5 feeling rather sleepy with full stomachs and digested our food as we watched a few hardcore climbing videos.

In the next session, Brandi demonstrated how to make dynamic moves and dynos.  By this time, my left arm was starting to feel a pull and I had to sit out for the rest of the session. 

SKT was nearby watching and after describing the problem with my arm, he recognised it instantly as muscle fatigue.  Much to my chagrin, rest was the only cure. 

I talked to Brandi a little after that about strain injuries, especially the elbow problems I had been getting.  It appeared to be a muscle imbalance issue and all I needed to do was work the opposing muscles on my forearms by doing wrist curls in the opposite direction.

There were more discussions at the end of the class, but I missed out because J had bought tickets for the Da Vinci Code at 6:15pm instead of 7pm.  Apparently, they went through the basics on circuit training, among other things.  I'll have to get the details from AR.

This was the group that took part in the class, with Brandi in the middle and three of us missing.

Photos are by courtesy of Anna Rinna - and once again I didn't ask for permission before stealing them.  Sorry for the abuse of friendship, Anna.