Did a 2km run with my family today before I continued a 4km thereafter on my own. Seemed like my younger girl had some good running legs. She is light and long legged. Was running under 5min/km for about 200m before slowing down to something she could manage, under 7:30/km for about 1km. Considering that she is only 8, I was pleasantly surprised. And she had no prior training. Her running posture was upright and breathing was not heavy. No shuffling of feet and arms swinging with the same tempo. I am sure she could have gone on if not for me stopping her. My wife and older girl fell behind after 1km. Alright, my wife is not the athletic kind and the older girl has asthma which I hope she will outgrow soon.
Will see how much the young Padawan can develop in future. She is likely too late or to be too talented in this sport, but an exposure will help her with her interests in it. Probably get her to do warm down runs with me soon... I am hesitant to expose her to such pounding of her young knees. Yeah... typical cautious, protective and conservative parent.
My 4km run was under 5:45/min pace. Felt tired from the weekend's hit out I think. Pace felt slow and legs were heavy. Time to rest up for today. Nice... Nope, not doing the Monday's swim with the tri blokes. Its family time!
Thereafter, spent an hour riding with them at East Coast Park. It was a load of rubbish ride. These leisure riders were hogging the whole of the cycling lane and stopping as and when they like WITHOUT much consideration of the cyclists behind. And pedestrians? They were EVERYWHERE. Oh my! As if it was frustrating enough, I had to teach my 2 girls the proper way to bike by being aware of their surroundings so that they can ride safely. High expectations I have I suppose because I ride on the road all the time and always need to be focused and concentrating on traffic conditions. Oh well, they will have to learn and hopefully they will get use to it really soon. Am contemplating putting the older girl on a road bike to bike with me on the road one of these days. That will also teach her mind to tick more as well as being more aware of her surroundings. Nothing beats doing the actual thing and experiencing it first hand.
***
Asked Aristole to get me a generic IM tri top while he was there to do his IM. So that I can wear it during my long runs, but he got me the Switzerland one! Damn! If somebody askes me, I will have to say, "No, I didnt do the IM race there..." That is so sad. The jersey looks damn good though. Really, really nice. The material fits like a second skin and didnt feel the seams even. Havent got the chance to do a long run with it. This coming Sunday will see its 1st outing.
Of late, I have been donning tights for runs above 20km. There is less bouncing from the singlet and definitely reduces any chance of chaffing. Makes me more aware of my running posture and gait as well. Bought a new pair of Newtons from Uncle Chan from Queensway. Likely will have to buy another pair for training for rotation purposes. It will be another 4months of training before WA. Doubt my current shoes will be able to sustain the training.
***
More than 2 years ago I found a hamster, either abandoned or escaped from somebody's flat. Clearly became my children's pet. I told them that I will not be responsible for cleaning up the rodent. It is supposedly to have a 2 year lifespan, so I read from the internet? It had gone past that age. Today, I let it out to run in the flat. Found that its hindlegs did not seem to function normally already? Likely attributed to old age? Perhaps rheumatism? I believe the time will come sooner or later. Sure hope that my kids will learn to handle the grief then. It will be their first contact with death, besides the aquarium fishes that I set up many years back, which I have stopped for a few years already. I liked aquariums, but with my IM training, I just do not have the time to manage so many things. Will like to start again in future, and with proper CO2 system and landscaping then? Maybe...
No comments:
Post a Comment