Running Away in Macintoshes

The weekend beckons. My students announced it with their dress-down gear today, signaling to me early this morning that it was TGIF. Aware of this acronym, I converted it into the anagram ‘GIFT’. Some well-intentioned posters remind us, incessantly, on Facebook about the innocuous cliché that the ‘present’ moment is a ‘gift’. After the landslide of tributes in the last 24 hours for Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs I am mindful of ‘being in the moment’ and appreciating my presence, as well that of others.

I am writing this post on my 2-year-old iMac – a clever investment from a computer fair. I am a heavy user since I have written dozens of training manual, two novels, countless business proposals, thousands of e-mails, and 2.5 years worth of blogging on it. I have fond memories of my adventures - loaded as photographs and videos - in this workstation, and I continue to receive them when friends enthusiastically ‘tag’ me; this was a recent one of me sprinting to the finish-line (and taken by volunteers of the Yellow Ribbon Project Run, held a fortnight ago).

The weather has been quirky, opting to rain heavily in the evening. It has been five days since I rode my bike, and almost a week since I ran. My mild, but annoying, condition of plantar fasciitis has just about cleared. Having collected my race-pack with running partner for The North Face (TNF) 100 Duo, I am strongly reminded of my date-with-fate the following Saturday morning at 7.00am. I will be running 50K worth of rugged terrain, over relatively unfamiliar and mostly uncomfortable terrain. I am not versatile on trail, and the closest I have been to a dusty or muddy trail was my 5K Time Trial with MR25 in August. I have not used my Camel-Pak water-pouch for almost a year, and I am concerned about potential abrasions. My right rotator cuff is playing up, and I hope that it would be stable enough for the pounding I will subject my body and feet to. I have my work cut out for me.

My strategy for the 50K trail run is simple, however not easy. I intend to do daily runs from now till Thursday, over varying terrain for about 10-12K per session. I will be using my Camel-Pak, studying which are the potential pressure-points and abrasion-prone areas on my body. I am likely to race in my tri-gear as they are my workhorse clothes when I race, and I like to treat each race as a race-day simulation. I hope to hold 8-9K per hour on the hills and trails, and about 10K on the flats. Conservative will be my approach, and conversational would be my pace. I will fuel up at 30-minute intervals, with a variety of sweeteners (mainly maltodextrin-based gels and bars). More importantly, as a team-partner I will stick with Hui Koon for as long as I can. My motivation would be a Subway foot-long sandwich with the ‘works’.

I will be swimming this Sunday at a charity, and hope to complete a steady 50 laps (2.5K). Time to rest up and do a 21K tomorrow morning, rain or shine. Have a very good weekend, all!