That obstinate runner

Feeling so happy about this! Obviously still need to work on keeping it consistently slow for these longer runs, but because I felt really good, I truly felt perhaps this time it would be great to just let myself go (for the last time, as usual). I do  run what feels to me like an unfluctuating leisurely pace, but it more often clocks faster than I should be going at. I don’t know when I’m going to learn. I hope I don’t end up injuring myself being pigheaded on these LSDs. At least I’m getting better at being slower. I’m doing 6:01 – 7:27 min/km when I should be doing the snaily 7:09 – 8:02 min/km on these longer runs. Next time, I shall run slower. No excuses. Can’t wait for the next long run! Would 16k be too big a goal for this week? I also hope it stops raining on me! x

A Coffee Run, literally. And LSD.

So I realised that my long slow distance runs aren’t appropriately slow enough, and hence, does not count as a slow run. Was reading around RW plus other running blogs and websites when I came to the conclusion.

Thus, I decided to attempt another lengthy dawdler of an adventure today. My friends wanted to grab a coffee after work so I thought I’d join them at the café, except that I’d run instead of driving over. I never thought taking it easy could be so difficult! According to the two pace calculators I used (1 and 2), I failed. As soon as I stopped thinking about my running pace I started speeding up again, which got me thinking – was my recent 5k time not one of my better efforts? Or is my long run too short? Perhaps the recent 5k race time I had input into the calculator didn’t particularly reflect my “current level of fitness?” (Oh, how ostentatious that sounds!)

My most recent 5k time was 28:40, which rendered the long run training pace to be 7:09 – 8:02 min/km. My magical 5k PB of 25:57 (that happened over 6 months ago) calculated the long run training pace to be 6:32 – 7:21 min/km. Much closer to what I was running. This gives me hope… Hope that I can smash that PB. That, or most possibly, I’m just running my LSD all wrong.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Long run in Bandar Seri Begawan, 7 Jan ’13, and water bottle blues

It was so hot today, oh ma lawddd. I thought I might give up from feeling mad thirsty by the second kilometre too, which led me to contemplate… Should I start bringing water on longer exploits?

Bukit Marakuching Hike, 5 Jan ’13

I absolutely loved this hike and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who loves a nice long walk. If you’re coming to Brunei, this is one trail that you should not miss if you’re going to do any at all!

Easy Run on Jalan Residency with company, 4 Jan ’13

Did a nice easy run on Jalan Residency whilst catching up with a friend today! Little garmin took ages to find location though, and being such keen beans, we set off before it finally initialised.

Steady Run to Tasek Lama, 23 Dec ’13

Phew, was it hot!

This Tasek Lama route is becoming a bit of a favourite now. It’s not bad really. There aren’t proper pavements for the first kilometre, followed by some treacherous narrow road edge treading for the third kilometre, and then a full blown deep excavation/construction site that I manage to casually dawdle through.

Run to Tasek Lama, 20 Dec ’13

Below are the stats from the day of my previous post when I took the photo of the silly monkeys at the entrance of Tasek Lama. I mostly go to Tasek to have a little relaxed walk on the short trail with my friends, which is why I need to get my run done and out of the way beforehand. Yes, I go for a run AND THEN go for a little “exercise session” with my friends immediately after. It makes sense because

Lonely Morning Hillwalk at Tasek Lama, 17 Dec ’13

I’ve been told it isn’t safe to traverse the long trails at Tasek Lama on your own, especially at the time of day when the trails are quiet. You don’t know what psychopath is lurking out there… Or (supposedly) what supernatural being. Or not-so-supernatural being, i.e. aggressive psycho monkey or venomous creature. Anyhow, one morning a friend cancelled on me at the last minute when I was extremely looking forward to the walk. I couldn’t resist the temptation so I ventured forth into the wild jungle by myself. Probably shouldn’t ever do this again. In the case that I do though, I will definitely make sure someone knows where I’m going, what I’m doing, and exactly which trail I’ll be on. The world is such a terrible place, but YOLO.

I don’t think my poor Garmin can handle all the tree cover! My pace was all over the place, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t bad as the stats are telling it really! I was on 0:00 min/km… Objective proof I was teleporting.

Check out this satellite image. That’s some proper tree cover you can’t deny. Intense tree cover which could actually put my life at risk… What was I thinking?! Must never do this alone again!

Love, Brunei Runner. xxx

Lone Jalan Residency Run, 10 Dec ’13

Damn hot. Like every single day.

Used laps to separate the actual run from my cool down.

Walk and Run Intervals at Tasek Lama, 4 Dec ’13

I actually thought this one was particularly difficult mentally, which was why I ended up walking a lot of it. I wanted to give up. And I did (clearly shown by the embarrassing lap splits right at the bottom of this post). The best bit of the stats saved to last. fml.

p.s. I wonder whether humidity affects the difficulty of a run?

Brunei Runner. x

My embarrassing run and walk intervals. The second “lap” represents a portion where I walking on a really unstable bridge. The other slow laps are just me gasping for air and dying.