By Frank
It's 60 days to go as we enter a brand new month again, this time April, the fourth month into training. When I first started drafting this entry, I really do not know on what to talk about for the month of March. I was tired but at the same time satisfied. Tired from the long haul of long training which was almost marred by factors including the weather and also some of my emotional trouble, the one thing I had in mind was just to get pass "Hell March" with positive results. I'm glad I did though it was done the hard way.
And so, I achieved 371KM, once again achieving what I was set out to do. When the month started, I didn't think I can achieve my training target due to the very bad haze. But as I was a gym member, I kept myself positive about it and made full use of the facilities without thinking too much of it. Yes, running long distance on the treadmill is not easy and its bored, but something needs to be done and run on it I did. And I guess, running keeps emotional troubles at bay too. Then of course I had work to juggle with. And the month of March is certainly the month I hated most as it was audit month. But am just glad I survived the audit.
Long distance progress.
I also called upon Jamie for his help too as I needed his assistance to run long during the weekend. We managed 2 outings together the first together with Zijill and Nick with the latter bringing me to new places around Subang. It was a nice run indeed at 19KM for me only to be plagued with a little haze on that day. The second saw me returning to Kinrara Puchong, the every famous "Amah Hills" together with some from the Gold Coast Marathon group. I managed a long 32KM there with the help of Julia and it was a good build-up to the following week's 16 hours Twilight Ultra Challenge at Singapore.
And to close the month off, came Twilight Ultra Challenge (TUC). This event has been an annual thing for me since the first edition back in year 2010. And when Comrades Marathon became a part of my running life, it was automatically upgraded to an annual event where I am suppose to peak for my training. Though I ran my best Twilight Ultra Challenge this time, I still thought I was unlucky again as I was hit by headache even before the start of the run. But the post run feeling the next day was good and that was the result I was looking for. Legs didn't feel too thrashed out and the physical cardiovascular health was feeling good too.
Back in my previous TUC entry, I mentioned briefly about my weight and fat percentage being very low. Despite all the effort in trying to gain, it was loss that I went through. A dip into the abyss, my fat percentage drop to a drastic 3%! The reading was taken mid March and although I felt good, I was really shocked at what the training did to me. 3% can't fuel me long for the distance I am tackling and I really hope to bring it back up to my normal level soon.
I need to EAT!
So talking about gaining weight, in this month too, I was introduced to Joey's homemade peanut butter. I wasn't a fan of peanut butter during my childhood days but that changed drastically when adulthood hit me. Peanut butter is essentially a sport's person type of food where it provides good fat to our body, and being homemade, I find myself eating Joey's version like a peanut butter freak. It was simply delicious too! I did overdose on it once and had to run to the toilet during one of my weekend runs with Jamie. I guess that not only it provides all the essential nutrients to the body, but it also helps to clear the bowel contents too! Talk about trying to gain weight! Anyway, if you are interested on Joey's homemade peanut butter, do visit his link HERE and all purchasing methods and contacts are listed there.
Yummy homemade peanut butter from Joey.
Now having survived the "longest" month, I will now enter the "fastest" month where April will involve lots of interval and hill training to build pace. Pace will be build during the weekdays while weekend will see the usual long runs. Interval training isn't exactly my favourite, in fact I favour long distance more. But once again, it has to be done as per instructed. And if everything goes smoothly, the following month of May will certainly be a month to be look forward to. So let us feel the need for speed this April!
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