Que pasa ('whats up' in Spanish)? In a nutshell, no surprise, the usual bor-ing training/running talk, hehe, but also some other fun and random stuff.
Here we go:
RAK 1/2 marathon:
I will spare the usual details, but the story is kind of funny. So last year I had this horrible race at RAK 1/2 marathon (Ras Al Kaimah, or RAK, is another Emirate here). I distinctly remember 3km into the race, I just wanted to stop... out of sheer boredom (no joke) and just NOT wanting to do it. So of course when you're not in the mood and just going through the motions, it shows. I suffered more mentally which reflected on me physically and just had an overall crappy race. So really, the WHOLE YEAR I talked about how much I hated the race and "NO WAY" would I do it again. Well, along comes the Dubai marathon where I didn't meet my expectations and that night going out to dinner with some runner friends and somehow one friend kept on talking about it and at that point in time I felt the need for a wee bit of redemption, BUT more so because of the drama with my calf cramping, wanted to test my shoes and basically racing and pacing. So somehow I became totally obsessed with WANTING to do the race (I think I'm becoming bipolar) and as the registration was closed, managed to get an injured friends bib (Shhhhhh....), so it was best of both worlds, her bib got put to use and I could run chipless, meaning NO pressure of time! So after my post marathon 1-week binge eating and pigging out (hmm... yes, was a bit of a fun, BUT major shock to the 'ol system and couldn't sleep often because of the revolution in my stomach from this shock!), got back to the swing of things and as the race was 3-weeks out from the marathon, felt pretty ready and rested for it. Beauty of the run is that I honestly was just going to run it with NO pressure and with no time in mind. So of course with that free spirit, I felt good at the beginning and no joke, from the first step to the last, really Really REALLY enjoyed it! Honestly had fun, was waving to all my fellow Striders and LOVED it!!! Best yet, had an AMAZING run as far as pace:
1st 5km; 25:20
2nd 5km: 24:54
3rd 5km: 24:54
4th 5km: 24:34
Final: 1:45:00 - per my Garmin watch as (shhhh) it wasn't official.
Hellooo? Can one ask for a better race? It was a NEGATIVE split, which is any runner's dream AND best yet, felt fab at the end and had enough energy to pick it up (which usually am spent by then and just getting through). I was soooooooooooooooooooooo HAPPY and on such a buzz after that! FINALLY got my mojo back! Funny enough, it is close to one of my better 1/2 times, BUT ALL my runner friends are surprised at that time thinking I should be going MUCH faster, like around 1:40. Helloooo #2, I think out of the 20+ 1/2 marathons I've done in my running career, 80% have been around 1:48 (no joke), so this was great for me and couldn't they just let me enjoy a time that is good for me? Although fine, I guess I need to work on improving that. Maybe next season. Anyhoo, had this TOTAL peak of mojo and "runners high" that whole next week, felt amazing! I forgot about 1/2 marathons and how you can just run it and feel great the next day, unlike marathons when you are hurting for a week if not more.
Two Oceans Training
Ahhh.... now here is my new 2nd job. Feels like it! So just after RAK started "peak" training for my good 'ol 56 km run (35 miles) in Cape Town, S. Africa end of March (Easter weekend). That entails 1x15km run (which I am doing at Garhoud bridges), 1 x 18km run, and 1x 12km run intervals/tempo... then the long arse weekend runs. So one weekend did 46km as a training run (my longest distance ever!), another weekend did back to back runs, meaning Thursday night and Friday morning (21km Thurs night and 34km Friday morning) and another weekend did 35km in the morning and 25km Hatta Hills (basically, we have to drive over an hour to get to some hills!). I kicked off my first 100km week last week (woo hoooo!) and think I will get close if not reach it this weekend. Then besides that is my usual 1-2x/weekly swimming, 1-2x./weekly yoga, 2x stair climbing, 2x strength training, etc etc. Really life has turned into total sport! Have to admit last week felt a mentally burned out and physically tired, which I guess is normal at this time. Finally got my mojo back just recently, but phew, really feels like a full time job on top of a full time job I already have! I know it will ALL be worth it, just need to keep my mental and physical edge up :-)
Also got to train with some VVIP's of the running community, these super dooper runners, including one that is sponsored and is favored to place in the Two Oceans! Excitement! Also that she is super nice. Funny thing is all these runners I did one Hatta trip with, just to get some hills in, all wore my new fave shoes, Hoka's!!!
ATP Tennis!! Unleash the Power (that is the motto for this year)!!
Well, for the 4th year in a row, my company got contracted with ATP Dubai Tennis!!! So funny how even that has changed through the years. The first year I was beside myself with nerves and anxiety. Hardly remember it because was just starstruck and in awe of everything. 2nd year was a smidge better, but fairly similar. The 3rd year was MUCH better and was soo comfy and relaxed and luckily many of the players recognized me and it was very comfy. Then for some reason this year.... sounds blase, but really was like "meh" (gasp!). REALLY was not into it as much as before because just focused on this darn training. Enough so that I purposely scheduled myself at the end of the tournament just to NOT be there that often and to focus on my training (gasp again). Although we have VIP passes to get into the WTA woman's matches, I TOTALLY was not bothered whatsoever (no offense to the woman). Then days passed with the men's and it wasn't until Tuesday when I stopped in to at least attend the Player's Party, which was more to get a good meal as the food there is delicious (am in a seafood/sushi/Asian fix these days). Federer wasn't at the tournament because of a knee surgery and Novak had an eye problem so although he came later that night (missed him as was too tired and went home), Rada and Dejan got pics with him (yay them!). Anyhoo, came the next day and again was just kind of here and there and everywhere and not as excited. Finally my work shift was on that weekend and after hands on working with what ended up being the Finals players (Stan Wawrinka and Marcus Baghdadis) and having the amazing experience of literally being 1-1 with them, working on them, and as they are both super friendly, TALKING to them, then FINALLY I thought, "wow! This is a once in a lifetime experience!" And got my excitement back! I literally chatted with Marcus for more than an hour about everything from nutrition to exercise to Cyprus to America to Balkans (his wife is Croatian) and he is sooo soooooo soooooooooooooooo friendly, it was almost like talking to any of my friends/patients. Didn't feel shy or guarded as with other players because he is just sooooo friendly and an amazingly friendly guy. So the next day when they competed against each other, which ended up being a FAB and exciting game, I was secretly rooting for the underdog Marcus as felt we were BFF's (hahah). Sooo fun!!!! Of course though was totally sleep deprived, diet went out the window, and felt that slump with training and just got overall tired. But onwards and upwards!!!
Anyhoo, below are pics from ATP Players party, as you see, my Serbian friends Rada and Dejan benefited from staying later than I did!!! lol. And also in the VIP training room, which was just me and the stars (okay, the ATP physio as well, he he)
Me and Stan the Man, Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 Dubai ATP Winner!!!
Me and runner-up to the 2016 ATP finals, Marcus Baghdadis, from Cyprus!
Random Other Stuff:
The morning of my mega day working at ATP, also did a 3 Emirates Run, which was a great change of scenery as we ran through Dubai, Fujerah, and Ajman.... 34km (hence the exhaustion then heavy work working on these players and staying up late after getting up at 4am something and running that back to back run. Alas, survived!
Leading the pack! hahah
Hatta Hills 1/2 marathon:
Purely ran this as a training run, hence did one of my ever slower times. Made a plan to go sub 2 hours, and squeaked in at 1:56.... haha. Almost all my running buddies passed me, but meh, wasn't bothered by it! There were some SUPER steep inclines/declines, actually just 2, but good mental note of "when it is 25% gradient, it's okay to walk," hahah. So really good to practice! And of course a bunch of pals from my running group ran it, so always a nice atmosphere.
Co-workers wedding/bday!
The bday was a week before, but the wedding just happened to be the evening before the Hatta Hills 1/2 marathon, which shows the seriousness of my attitude towards it, ha ha. It was super fun to get all dressed up and hang out with my co-workers in a non-work setting. As you can see, the "theme" was blue!!!!
And our work bday celebrations for her:
Rain!!
Well, the last thing you EVER hear about in Dubai is rain. Well, last week we had quite an exciting event with a huge rain storm. The night before I hard on the radio that with anticipated rain, they closed all the schools in Abu Dhabi. Dubai at the time (morning) was a bit grey, but okay. Made it to work and then ... wow, a true rainfall! So as Dubai has NO drainage system, the first thing that we all heard about was the flooding.... and more flooding. So one by one, most of our patients were cancelling and it was like party time at work. We NEVER have time to just sit around and chat, but here we were all hanging out and just having fun and watch our schedules lighten and lighten. Haha. Fortunately, my last patient gave me this awesome new route to avoid the chaos at one of our big roads here, and left early from work... and got home in like 10 min! It was true bliss!!!!! I was almost beside myself with what to do... as had too much to do and didn't even know where to start. Having those extra couple of hours extra is just magical!!! Truly had THE BEST day that day! So relaxed, so fun, and best of all, so entertaining with all the excitement of the big o rainfall. Well, not all entertaining as sadly, many people's homes got ruined and there were some casualties. So not all fun and games! They closed the schools the next day as it was expected to have MORE rain and many companies gave their employees the day off. I was off anyway, but of course as luck would have it, it was again a beautiful sunny day in Dubai! Anyhoo, it was quite big news and hit international media as well with a bit of the extreme scenes.
Well, the last thing you EVER hear about in Dubai is rain. Well, last week we had quite an exciting event with a huge rain storm. The night before I hard on the radio that with anticipated rain, they closed all the schools in Abu Dhabi. Dubai at the time (morning) was a bit grey, but okay. Made it to work and then ... wow, a true rainfall! So as Dubai has NO drainage system, the first thing that we all heard about was the flooding.... and more flooding. So one by one, most of our patients were cancelling and it was like party time at work. We NEVER have time to just sit around and chat, but here we were all hanging out and just having fun and watch our schedules lighten and lighten. Haha. Fortunately, my last patient gave me this awesome new route to avoid the chaos at one of our big roads here, and left early from work... and got home in like 10 min! It was true bliss!!!!! I was almost beside myself with what to do... as had too much to do and didn't even know where to start. Having those extra couple of hours extra is just magical!!! Truly had THE BEST day that day! So relaxed, so fun, and best of all, so entertaining with all the excitement of the big o rainfall. Well, not all entertaining as sadly, many people's homes got ruined and there were some casualties. So not all fun and games! They closed the schools the next day as it was expected to have MORE rain and many companies gave their employees the day off. I was off anyway, but of course as luck would have it, it was again a beautiful sunny day in Dubai! Anyhoo, it was quite big news and hit international media as well with a bit of the extreme scenes.
Hmm... that's all that I can remember! Other little things, but nothing to dawdle about! Now ALL attention is on a proper taper, the run is 2 weeks away, and then..... wooooooooooo hooooooooooo!!! Time for a little bit of R&R!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment