Thursday, September 4, 2014

Obligatory pre-tri check-in

So, the last couple of weeks have been immensely hectic. I left my newsroom job at the end of last week, but am still working for a number of outlets - I'm now a full-time independent journalist and am juggling several work projects at one go. (I've always thought freelancing is a very important survival skill. Especially when one is about to move continents without a specific date or job lined up.)

It's now three days out from my first OD tri. I don't count chickens before they hatch so ask me again in three days what I thought of it!

Some things that have kept me entertained this week:

1. I went to a green-building conference, partly because I am a nerd and partly because I was covering it for work, but anyway the point of this was to say I now get off work at a time when I can still see the sun set.

Overlooking Marina Bay. I took a walk across the bridge to meet a friend for dinner. (Meeting friends for dinner on a worknight! Another thing I can now do!)

2. These ads for SkinnyMint tea have been popping up in my Facebook a lot lately and I can't figure out why. I guess that means Facebook doesn't know me as well as it thinks. Or, it's doing this purely for my entertainment.

Here is one gem.

Her feet! Her arms! Her poor neck! That isn't a yoga pose! Jeez, this stuff needs to stop before they hurt somebody.

Also, never mind the complete pseudoscience of a 'detox' (nb. that is what kidneys are for, you should try using them sometime, it's great) --  I understand, via a friend, that this stuff has a laxative effect. I'm a runner. I don't want farts I can't trust.

Why do people keep getting correlation mixed up with causation? Changing your weight does not lead to good health; heck, your weight is not always even a reliable symptom of good health. Your weight, however, may change while your body is in the process of becoming healthy. Weight gain, or weight loss, is a side effect of the underlying changes you are making - eating less processed food, taking up new gym classes, entering road races, etc - to get healthy. (I gained a little weight during marathon training because I was also strength training a little bit. Which, fine by me.) Weight loss by pooping? Will definitely not make you any healthier than you were before. Unless you used to be constipated.

Here, read this one instead.
To everyone who's told women they 'shouldn't get too muscular'

3. In my email inbox this week: the Great Eastern Women's Run has an all-female pacer team!

See, Shape, it's not that hard to find women willing to pace, you just have to ask them. It is not 'more entertaining' for women to be trailing along after male pacers. It is inspiring for us to see other women where we want to be, and maybe talk to them about how they got there.

Just another example of Great Eastern apparently reading my mind. Or my blog. Whichever. You are my heroes and I'm looking forward to this half.

4. As a sort of Florence hangover, I've been reading this book by popular historian Christopher Hibbert, on the House of the Medici. I'm not even normally a big history buff, but this book is written like a popular thriller.

The next few weeks are going to be packed race-wise: this weekend is the tri; next weekend is the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run which I swore up and down last year I'd be on time for this year (doing it as a fun run, I swear); the following weekend I'm volunteering at another ultra; and there's an aquathlon (swim 1500m, run 10k) in the last week of September. Why does all the fun stuff have to happen this month?

15 comments:

  1. Ok, I LIKE the idea of women pacers, but seriously...they are not very fast. Usually pace groups cover a variety of paces, but this just makes it look like women are slow! The should at least throw a 45 minute 10k in there!

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    1. That may be true, but for whatever reason*, the field in the vast majority of races here is also not very fast. Even the pace groups in mixed-gender races don't go down to 45-minute 10Ks (I guess if you can train to do a 45-minute 10K on your own, you're fine on your own?)

      * we can unpack all this at a later date - zero tradition of athletic culture, a running culture that encourages participation rather than competition, genetics, heat, humidity especially over longer and longer distances, etc etc etc...

      I'd also wager the field in Singapore is more representative of the general population than the field in the US (a larger % of people here participate, so you get that wider spread vs the US where maybe participation in running events is confined to a smaller percentage of the population).

      Aaaaanyway, I wouldn't mind a 50 minute 10K pace group or a 2h half pace group but that's just me. Maybe in future there will be greater demand for it.

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    2. I was going to say the same thing as Gracie. Do you also think it's the weather? The heat alone would probably make me run 5 minutes slower for a 10K.

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  2. Wait, does this mean that YOU are moving continents soon? Please tell us more!

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    1. It does indeed - my brilliant husband (who is a US citizen) is going to do his PhD in Boston, starting in Jan/Feb. I, however, am not a US citizen, so I am waiting for a visa. And packing, and packing, and packing, and shipping stuff to my in-laws' place in Ohio...We're hoping to be there for Christmas but I might not be able to if that visa doesn't show up in time.

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    2. I hadn't grasped this either - when you mentioned visas beforehand I thought you meant for a holiday! This is awesomeness, even if it is on the wrong coast! At least I have somewhere to stay when I magically qualify for Boston! xx

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    3. Haha! Likewise, I've given myself five years to magically qualify for Boston (I will not run it unless I qualify properly).

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  3. Good luck on your tri this weekend!

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    1. Thanks! Oh, taper madness. I'm like WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THIS SPARE TIME? Fortunately (?) it also coincides with the last week of my cycle so I am hot, sluggish, achy, and bloated (thanks hormones).

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    2. So I guess it kind of worked out for you? I hope it passes by the time you race.

      I'm about to start my own taper and honestly I have to say that for the first time in my racing life, I am excited about tapering. Not sure my body can handle much more...

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    3. Training for a 70.3 is no joke! Hope you get some rest, and good luck!!

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  4. I too do not like farts that I can't trust. And totally agree that weight is not an indicator of health. I'm at my lightest weight that I've been in years but I'm way too light for me (stress-related) and it means that I've been more susceptible to viruses and I can't run much at the moment. Thin isn't all it's cracked up to be.

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    1. Yep, exactly! There you go. I hope you feel better soon!

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  5. A great race sign for the end of a marathon/triathlon. 'Never Trust A Fart'.

    Good luck!

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  6. Good luck at your first OD tri! You're my hero for even doing it!! (not being sarcastic!)

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