Slow & Steady Wins the Race :-)

Best day yet!  Great night's sleep, woke up and went for a 7.5 mile run (yes it was the hardest thing ever and no I can't believe I ran 10 miles easy one week ago).  Two laps around campus, was able to run up the big hill both times (the one I walked earlier in the week) so I think that is some improvement.  Sun kept coming out and making it excrutiating hot (didn't get out until 8am so didn't finish until 9:30am, too late).  

Then went to Palau Ubin and cycled all around the island (probably 10 miles?  Not very fast but some hill climbing which got the heart rate up).  My first time mountain biking, just a little off roading but it was fun!  Saw MONKEYS!!!!!  They are scarier in the wild. 

TT: 1:20:48  AP: 10:48

A cardio trifecta.  1 mile running to and from the gym.  20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes bike.  Had to lie and say I did bring a towel to the gym (I was doing laundry while was there) as I was out of compliance with the "No shirt, no shoes, no towel, no entry" rule at the gym!  Whoops...

After my lovely 6am meeting with the project team back home, headed out for a run at 7am.  Did the loop the opposite way - mistake.  That giant hill I've referred to before no longer has the mini-break in the middle and it was extremely long and difficult.  I wore my heart rate monitor just for fun.  I don't really know what my typical heart rate is, but it was 80 when I started, an average of 144 during the run, and it topped out at 168 at the top of that hill.  That seems rather high!  My speed is improving the very tiniest bit.

TT: 50:40  AP: 10:08   AHR: 144

7am.  Convinced Gitt to do the Jurong Lake 5k with me in July (she doesn't run!) so I forced her to get up with me and took her to the track. :-)  Walked there, and she did about 20 minutes of jog/walk so I was really proud of her!  I think she will be able to do it no problem.

HR was 75 before I left.  I need to figure out what it is before I get out of bed.

I did almost a 2 mile warm-up, then 3 400's, a 400 of recovery after the first and an 800 of recovery after the 2nd.  While I ran these faster than last week, I couldn't do the 4th one and I had to walk after 3.5 (after the 3rd 400) for a bit because I was about to have a heart attack.  Then I ran home to round it out at 4 miles.

TT: 37:29  AP: 9:22 (look at that!)  AHR: 152

Splits (HR): 1:58 (164), 1:56 (169), 1:59 (173)

I don't think its good for me for it to go over 170.  I think I may need to walk the recovery lap when I do these.

The nice thing about here is there are no lunches to be made, no animals to be taken care of (though I miss my pets horribly!), and its pointless to dry/fix your hair.  Plus you take cold showers so there's no lingering in the shower!  So I can get ready for work in only 15-20 minutes!

PS - According to Runner's World my max heart rate is 188. 

PM Workout - Did about half of a 50+ minute Speed and Agility Insanity video with Tina.  Everything crawling on the ground made me want to die so I didn't do all of that, but all of the rest. 

AM Workout - Total fail.  Ran to the gym and back... only the gym was closed.  Apparently they open at 8:30am.  Thought about going for a swim but since I didn't have the stuff, once I got home I just started working / getting ready instead.

PM Workout - Walked to the gym and back (plus walked a ton at the bird park) - did 35 minutes on the bike while reading Molokai.  Finished A Separate Peace earlier in the day (my 3rd book in 2 weeks!).  It was okay, a classic, so its to be expected I don't love it, I'm not smart enough to love classics!  Undid all the good I did by having a Cadbury Black Forest McFlurry at McDonald's.  I've been eyeing that since we got here so I finally caved.  It was everything I dreamed of and more.  I don't really know what a Black Forest is supposed to taste like but it was absolutely delightful.  

100 lunges on the walk back from the gym (30-30-20-20).  Will probably feel that tomorrow!  My calves are so sore from Insanity yesterday (and all the jumping).

7:30am.  Felt like I was going to die, running here is so hard.  Now afterwards I feel kind of like I'm going to throw up.  I need to get some electrolyte tablets or something to put in my water I think.  Got a better pre-run reading on my heart rate - 60 bpm.  Still need to do it before I get out of bed though.

TD: 8.36 miles  TT: 1:30:00  AP: 10:46  AHR: 145 bpm

Splits (HR): 11:31 (126), 11:00 (142), 10:41 (143), 10:32 (146), 10:31 (151), 10:51 (151), 10:45 (152), 10:25 (154)

Now off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the weekend!