Denouement

Met Lily Lew at church! (Smooth's sis in law).  Also found out that the track coach for HK's olympic team is in our ward and Lily sent me his number (I still need to call him).

Rained before I started running. I wish i could have started sooner, but waiting for train.  The early morning rain cooled it down a bit.  Ran 8.21 this morning in 62 min.  Started on my own.  First mile was 8:55, but then started to feel better and Roberto was on the trail so we ran together for from 1.5 on.  What a difference a running companion makes.  Splits were 8:55, 7:26, 7:49, 7:12, 7:05, 7:07, 7:18, 7:18, 8:32 pace for the .21 (looking for my shirt, finally found it stashed in a bush).  I am running a race on Sunday!  I would rather race on Saturday, but races are few and far in between right now.  This time of year is akin to deep winter in Utah.  This is the worst month of they year and I am here to partake of it.  At least it all gets better from here.

AM: First track workout in HK.  Got lost a couple of times trying to get to the Perth Street track finally found it when I was about to give up. 4.14 mile warm up in 8.24 pace.  I was looking for this track because it opens earliest here: 6am.  All tracks get locked up, and they typically have at least one worker/maintenance/security person there.  So no early morning track workouts for me.  Turns out this track is only a 300m track, so don't think I will be going back to it.  It was ok for today's workout, though: 6x800m at tempo interval (5k) pace, 400m rest between.  So I did them on the track and used my garmin for tracking, since figuring out the markers was hard. Aiming for 2:50-2:53.  Did 2:50 (2:15 rest), 2:47 (2:16 rest), 2:48 (potty break then 2:04 rest), 2:46 (2:22 rest), 2:44 (2:13 rest), 2:41, then about three miles cool down.  So I did these faster than I should have, but it was hard to track since I didn't have 200, 400, or 600m splits for monitoring.  

Went to HK Disneyland during the day.  We were blessed with partly cloudy conditions, so it was hot and dank but not as bad as it could have been.  I had choc mouse for first treat there, chicken curry for lunch, frozen pineapple chunk and korean squid (like fish jerky) for afternoon snack, turkey leg, corn on the cob and cheese bread stick for dinner.  I left the fam at 7pm to go home early for evening run.  Ran abt 43 min and about 5 miles, I found a closer track in this run, but it doesn't open until 7:15 so I won't be able to use this one until the weather cools.  First core workout in probably 2 weeks.  Started at phase 3 level 2 to ease back into it.  

10.68 in 1:16:36 (7:10 ave pace).  Met Roberto again.  He is a 2:38 (I think) marathoner and has pulled me along on a couple of runs, which has helped me to not get into a slump as I moved out here.  He's also provided a lot of info on running and living in HK, so helpful.  I have a 10k on Sunday, and I know it is going to be hot and humid, so i was thinking to go out at 39:00 pace, but the course record is 38:23 and if I break that record then I get another $380 in cash ($3000HKD). Roberto Googled me apparently and saw my race times, and of course 36:02 sounds really good, but that is DesNews, a bit different than a flat 10k, eh?  I am not sure if I can do 38:22, given the conditions, my adjusting to them, and where I am in my training cycle.  I don't want to end up on a stretcher.  I will need to run by feel (trying not to go out at a crash and burn pace) and I'll go for it if it feels right.  I think that's the answer. 

AM: Ran on my own.  Warmed up, and was fairly desperate for a bathroom before my fast miles.  Either the bathroom is there, or it isn't and not so keen to do my first bush dive in HK. Went long for warm up, about 4.4 miles, and was rewarded with a bathroom.  Funny thing is, the bathroom is the type that has a hole and you squat.  So funny.  At least it was legal.  Plan for workout was 2x2miles at 10k pace, 1 mile rest between tempo intervals.  I wanted to see if I could do 6:10 pace.  First 2 miles 6:09, 6:04, recovery mile 8:48, second two miles 6:07, 6:01, and I felt pretty good.  It was hard but not killer, which gives me hope that perhaps I can string together 6 6:10 miles on Sunday.  There's always race day magic.

PM: chinese foot massage (they work calves and feet, not as good as a sports massage or PT, but better than nothing, need to figure all of that out).  Core workout. At night got lost on a hilly run into unfamiliar territory.  When I realized I was lost I ran to a bus stop.  One man knew English, the other knew the directions, so between the two of them I found my way home.  I am so grateful to them for helping. 

Ran from home, tried running down Nathan Road to the water and running along the waterfront.  There is no water or bathrooms from mile 3.5 on doing this, and I had to stop about 6 times in the first 3.5 miles, and I can't wear headphones because though the traffic is much lighter before 6am, it is still dangerous--just takes one car to turn me into a pancake, so I will be going to Sha Tin for most of my runs.  I will get my gym ID on monday, which will help alot for second runs of the day. Abt 8mm pace.

Watch died at 4.88 miles @ 8.17 pace.  Did about 50 min at easy pace.  Weight spiked up, due to not losing 4 lbs of sweat during my run.