Pre-Periodization Week 2: 29.85K

Still keeping to the light and easy theme, there was an increased in the weekly mileage even if the frequency of runs dropped.

The week's highlight was Saturday's first long run. I woke up at 4am and as usual the first thought that ran through my mind was "Here we go again!" but not with that kind of enthusiasm that precedes second helpings of ice-cream, mind you. Fueling was a slice of peanut butter bread with black coffee and after averaging 90km/h I reached the BA car park sharp at 5am. No other runners were there and while I got ready, Geraldine pulled up. 5 minutes later we were huffing off into the dark. I wore the blue-silver stability Nike Air Structure Triax 11+ (AST11+) as part of the breaking in process. On my right wrist was the Nike SportBand and the left wrist my Forerunner 205.

The effort were conversational and there wasn't much problem except for a spot of surprise at the Arabic School just before the Bukit Tunku hills. A dog which we didn't notice suddenly jumped out with a growl. We stood our ground and it didn't come any closer and reluctantly walked away still with some menace. That got the blood flowing a bit and we were definitely fully awaked after that! Kit's friend Fu Yee (hope I got his name right - thanks man!) generously provided us with some drinks at the Hartamas stop and we gulped down the H2O quickly and made our way back.

It got a bit chilly for me as we headed back - my shirt was soaked through. After crossing Jalan Duta and a road kill later, we ran into Ronnie and his band of runners (over 10 of them!) on their way to the 15K route. 30 minutes later I was back at the car park ready to take on another 4.5K with the RunnersMalaysia group. Now that second run was certainly tougher, indicative of my fitness level. But time is on my side and I'm glad to have maintained the slight momentum going into the actual 2-week Periodization Phase which starts tomorrow. Periodization Phase calls for more regular runs, with no single runs exceeding 20K. Weekly mileage peaks at 30K though I think I may not be able to stick to that number. We'll see.

I met with Wong, an EKIN with Nike, who was there to exchange the Pegasus 2007+ with the Zoom Elite 4+, which looks really great. Compared to the E3 (my PR shoe), the 4 has fewer overlays (good!), is Nike+ enabled (moving with times!) and reportedly lighter (great!). The most significant change is that there's no longer a full-length Zoom Air due to the accommodation of the Nike+ shoe sensor. I shall be reviewing the Elite 4 after the SportBand and AST 11+. I know there's quite a lot of cool gear to test out and that's certainly keeping my training very interesting indeed. Thanks once again to Nike for all the cool hardware. Check out my review of the Zoom Elite 3 here.

The Elite 3 (left) with the 4

Before I end this posting, I got the chance to test-run (OK only a few steps!) in the yet to be launched 9oz lime green Lunar Trainer (see image below). It felt like a pair of Frees with more cushioning. It's pillowy ride is different from Nike's super soft Vomero and all I can say for now is that it's revolutionary. The secret to achieving all that is via the use of Lunarlite foam which was developed by the aerospace industry. It's 30% lighter than Nike's Phylon (the company's hitherto lightweight midsole material). I'm really getting ahead of myself here but it's something to be really excited about in the later part of the year.