Time flying

Enfant Terrible was registering us for a race the other day and needed my personal details. He entered my IC number on the eletronic form, then paused.

"How old are you this year?" he said. 

Quick mental arithmetic done, I said, "36. Why?"

"I'm wondering if I'm supposed to enter you in the women's open or women's veteran category."

"Well, I think they take the age you're at as of 31 December in the last year."

"OK, women's open then."

"But think of how good my chances of podiuming will be if I'm in women's veteran!!"

"... next year lah."

It's gonna be great. The best!

Setia Alam Community Trail: A jaunt

Addresses are a funny thing in the Klang Valley. A new housing development might be nowhere near Kuala Lumpur, but the spin doctors will tell you that it's only 20 minutes away from KLCC (at 5 AM on a weekend maybe).

This is the case for mine and Enfant Terrible's neighborhood-to-be, where the developer is actually still building the roads (!) that lead in to it. Not that we're complaining, because we fancy that it'll be a nice, quiet place that attracts hobbit types like ourselves.

(One possible inconvenience is that no one seems to be able to agree on what district we're in. The land assessment fee is imposed by Kuala Selangor but the developer says our postcode will be that of Sungei Buloh, Shah Alam is just a turn-off away, and the ad promos say that it's a part of Greater KL, which is a whole other postcode. I think I'll hold off on the online shopping for the moment.)

Haze running: A training report

Against all good sense, Enfant Terrible and I went for a run last week. The API was a little over 100. The flat gray nothingness in the distance had lightened, but the hills we intended to run were still obscured by the haze.

Anyhoo, we figured that it would be as good a time as any to try the wet rag face mask idea, plus we were getting v v v v restless.

So, you get a multifunctional tubular headwear wrap thing like a Buff, wet it, slip one open end down over your head until the wrap is gathered around your neck, then pull the uppermost end of the tube over your mouth and nose. Don't use a soaking wet wrap because that's DIY waterboarding.

How was it? Well, it's more comfortable and snug than an N95 mask. But it can be uncomfortable for some, it can get quite warm, and you have to keep it damp (easy if you sweat like I do).

On the bright side, it keeps out the smell of smoky air, which was the whole point of the exercise.

One thing to note though, is that we went trail running, and I dare say the air is clearer amid the trees. If you intend to wear a wrap like this and go road running, then be prepared for many sideways looks and possibly the police coming up for a chat. Because who else but psychos and criminals would be out in such weather?

Trail running and haze

Today's haze was especially bad. We decided not to go for our run as a result.

The usual advice applies: Stay indoors when possible, keep doors and windows closed, and stay hydrated.

I was curious about it, so I looked up "running in hazy conditions". All I found was a Singaporean running site. There was also a 2012 run report from the USA, where the writer and other like-minded psychos ran during smoky conditions that had reduced visibility to fog-like conditions and necessitated the use of headlamps.

However, I found nothing on being in the trees during a haze. I'm not sure I want to report on that first-hand, even though we're virtually haze ground zero. So far, my throat is a bit sore and I'm sniffly and bleary in the morning. Lethargy holds sway in the day, and not even cold showers relieve the lassitude.

Running these past few days has been very warm, humid, and generally uncomfortable. Even the energizing effects of exercise are dampened by the haze, where your skin feels sticky and dirty all the time. I can almost feel the dirt landing on me. Ironically, the post-run endorphins are superseded by the tendency toward crankiness.

Ice cream only fixes it for 5 minutes!

Right in front of me

This is what most people do when they start an exercise regimen: buy exercise gear they don't really need eat. It's natural, because you feel good about your effort and exercise makes you hungry. It's also silly to starve yourself when you want to lose weight, as that is counterproductive in the long-term.

Anyway, when we took up trail running, I was 100% unprepared for how much more I had to eat. Eating 6 small meals a day? A recipe for sadness. The same went for eating more protein/less carbs. I had to accept that you need the calories when you do 10-12 km trail runs a day. Enfant Terrible took to the idea with frenzied joy, though he usually eats more than I do anyway.

So, I've been eating almost triple (!) my usual servings of rice, and I'm still hungry between meals, but manageably so. I snack on fried dal and raisins and dried pineapple (I also eat these things while running). The only problem is breakfast. The hunger is actually painful after breakfast, come to think of it.

I've tried white bread and brown bread spread with peanut butter and topped with bananas, oatmeal, eggs, rice, noodles, and all that, and am ravenous and sad an hour later.

A few days ago, I finally realized what I'd been doing wrong. I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. I should have doubled my breakfast servings. OBVIOUSLY.