42 Days To Go

A poor week mileage wise with no signs of changing. A consolation is that the quality runs were still there but that's not good enough - not by my standards. The level of excitement has been going steadily up to be sure, as the day draws near. So to address my lack of workout today and in the future (I've had for weeks observed the trend of work eating into my running routine), I made a decision to invest in a spinning bike. There were some resistance to be sure but I told my wife that either she agrees with my purchase or put up with a grouchy and totally unfit husband. With the money, I could've part financed the purchase of a plasma TV or a DSLR but health and fitness go above those 2 nice-to-haves. I just have to arrest the slide in my workout frequency. And the bike is a proven machine to ensure that my aerobic fitness and strength don't evaporate. It's much cheaper than a treadmill, requiring less space, generates less noise while providing low impact workouts. That's my machine below. I expect it to be delivered on Wednesday, allowing me to get back into the mileage groove very quickly at this critical stage.


I ran 8K on Thursday and 5K on Friday before this morning's 21K. The Thursday run was good but I encountered the annoying runner who literally brushed everyone as he passed. At first I thought that he intentionally run close to me just to brushed me but I observed that he did the same to everyone. He could've easily just run wide. So I decided to harassed him and give him back some of the medicine he dished out. I was already 5K into my run, so I took it as a tempo part of my workout. I picked up my pace and stuck to his butt. I made sure he knew of my presence by periodically scraping my shoes. I'd draw very near to him - to his side, then to his heels. I felt strong and in control and I had energy and speed on tap. Just when I could've passed him, I pulled back just to annoy him. When he picked up pace, I'd draw level with him. At that pace, he lasted only 1 lap while I went on for 2 more Ks. I may sound like a mean fellow but this runner is worst. He'd been spotted relieving himself at the park indiscretely. He also parks his 4x4 illegally and treated the other park users with disdain. In short this man is a brute.

I had a nice surprise on Friday as I finally got hold of a test pair of Nike's Lunaracer. Before that day, I'd never ran in a shoe that's this light. The Lunaracer weighs in at a measly 5.5 oz. The lightest shoe that I've ever worn was the Nike Pegasus Racer of the early '90s and the 9 oz cousin of the Lunaracer, the Lunar Trainer. 5.5 oz isn't the typical territory of daily trainers and even racers for middle of the packers, only for the elites. But the Lunaracer is not your typical shoe. To get a feel of it, I immediately took it for a 5K. I will leave the specifics to the review. Suffice to say that I kept checking myself not to go too fast as I logged the most consistent splits in months. To say that I was totally floored by the wear experience is an understatement. More was to come as I took it for a 21K this morning. The mere fact that I was able to wear a shoe this light over the distance is already an amazement. I'm already looking forward to take them for a series of hard back to backs over the next 2 weeks, and only then will I sit down to write the report.