I really miss Lolly.. And I'm quite glad 'coz the fogies are coming over with some things tomorrow afternoon and they're bringing the li'l girl with them. They'll leave her here to keep me company whilst I'm on my medical leave. The thought of that is definitely cheering me up =)

Sometimes all it takes is just 30 minutes of self-discovery to get you back on track.

I've be feeling highly demoralised about running because of my unhappy knee. 2km has been a limit before pain sets in, so I was really unhappy about it and I kept thinking that I'd probably never get back to it ever. I was even starting to worry big time about the upcoming triathlon in July and whether or not I was going to be able to complete the full distance this year as I'd planned. Anyway, I was going through an old RW the other day when I came across a line that screamed out at me: If you are suffering from ITB syndrome, do not try to make up for lost distance by going further or harder. Spend the time trying to get back on track. I guess it kinda helped somewhat but I was still feeling impatient and booey. It made me feel worse reading Sue's posts about her recovery and training. Not blaming ya though, Sue! Just wanted to join you!

But having a husband who's keen on commuting together helps.

We got into town before eight today as he now has to be in at work earlier so I hit the gym for some low key strength training. And oh my... today's session was very telling, if anything. I now know just how weak my left knee. I watched it as I did my test exercises and boy did it quiver! But it gave me the resolve I needed to fix it again.

So yay! Plan is... Hit the gym every morning for at least 30 minutes to fix it. Slowly but surely... Strength will prevail! WAHA!

What does one do when the husband is out at an industry golf tournament and dinner thang?

Go shopping, right?

Decided I needed some me-time tonight. So after work, I hit the town with Jemmerson for a spot of evening shopping. How utterly poncy does that sound?! Oh my, I thought. I'm becoming a tai-tai wannabe or summat. With the help of birthday vouchers and such, I picked up a pair of yoga shoes from Nike, a jacket from Zara and a couple of going outie tops from some random shop - Decided I'd had enough and headed home. Except I didn't really feel like getting a train or queueing and spending unnecessary dollar on a cab.

So I took a nice deep breath and walked home under a starry night sky, leaving tai-tai-dom far behind me.

Update:
Hubba won the tournament?! Good grief. He's the biggest buaya... Waha!


no. 1 buaya

These pictures were from last week - From Angie's camera =)


wayne and josh taking a break


coming out of the single track


obviously huffing and puffing


kena-ed some thorns


me, wayne and hansel


aaron and mistersexyarse

before

I was back on the roads tonight for the first time with my road shoes and Look carbon pedals.

Felt a bit of an idiot at first 'coz I couldn't get used to the one-sided pedals and it didn't help that they were way too tight. Would have turtled it at a crossing if not for the strategic positioning of a friendly nearby lamp post. Thank goodness someone had an Alan key and adjustments could be made before the real ride began at Pasir Panjang.

I suffered quite a bit tonight. All I could think of was hanging on to Beef's wheel and boy, did I cling on for dear life. He pretty much babysat me whilst the others went nutso apeshit. But at one point I just couldn't hang on any longer at 38 and I slowly fell behind. I even let out a big sigh and he knew I'd had it. But he gave me quite a bit of encouragement and I pressed on, catching up with the resting pack further down the road.

My legs were burning. My back was screaming. I had no fuel left in my stomach and I felt like I was bonking. When I saw Hubba, he looked like he'd done himself in as well - The speed demon had ground himself to a halt.

I'm absolutely cream crackered.

Distance: 50.76km
Time: 1hr 59mins
Avg: 25.5km/hr
Max: 39.8km/hr

do i live in a bike shop?!

...


*hides*

There's something in all of us that makes us press on and not give up.

I call that li'l something my ickle monster. She disappears from time to time when I'm feeling weak and vulnerable, rearing an aggresive albeit ugly head that helps me past each threshold of pain. And everytime I feel weak with no pitbull, I wonder if she's off on holiday somewhere. Well, my li'l monster's been gone for awhile now. Four weeks of inactivity gave her a long enough break to party up big style somewhere obscure. Last week's bike ride made me wonder when she was going to come back from her 'leave', and part of me was wondering if she was going to come back at all.

She came back today.

I hit the trail mostly quite hard today. Cranking up every single up and accelerating on every single descent. It was awesome. I hit a ditch at one point and didn't stack it - thanking my lucky stars. My back wheel nearly slid out under me twice but I managed to regain control and keep on track. It was truly fun and a half. My chest was still heaving and my legs were definitely still working with a fair amount of effort. But somehow the whinger in me was nowhere to be found. Ickle monster was definitely back and cranking it something chronic. I liked the feeling. The rush. Wicked!

The ride chemistry was good today and everyone gave the trail a good pounding. We rode home in the pouring rain and I was definitely on a high, but a niggling sensation burned in my legs and I was sure I was about to cramp up. Lucky we got back in time and the Johnson Duck rescued ma aching body.

Cheers for the ride guys! Pictures later.

Distance: 30km
Avs: 12km/hr

talking very unglamly to wayne


angie on the trail


sweaty bettys


hansel's virgin ride