Tomorrow I will do my first run for the year. I have not ran since my Singapore Marathon injury a month ago.

Can’t wait to run again 🙂

If you are like me who can’t keep still, having an injury is one of the worst things that can happen. I had the unfortunate fate of having two in the past month. At first I was really frustrated then I realized that this won’t get me anywhere. So I tried various things instead:

Take It Easy

If you have built a strong fitness base, this won’t go away overnight even if you are forced to take things easy for a few weeks. Rest, relax and recover. It is natural to worry about regression after you have built up your endurance over several months. But this strength will all go to waste if you don’t give your body enough time to recover from the injury. You even run the risk of getting more serious injury if you force it.

Find Alternative Methods

Since I had to protect my ankle from impact, I can’t do any exercise that repeatedly made use of this body part. I chose to replace my run time with spinning on the trainers. This way I still get a good cardio session, work out the other leg muscles and at the same time get better at cycling. I also “run” on the trainers by sitting proud and tall and mimicking a good running form while pedaling on the bike. This allows me to work on upper body running form without the impact on the legs.

Focus on Strength Building

I continued to do my Pilates-based strength training and this has enabled me to recover from the injury. The focus on proper execution of movement has contributed in strengthening the surrounding leg muscles without putting strain on my ankle. It has also given me more confidence to move the injured part. Strengthening the core has also been beneficial by evenly distributing my body weight during the exercise so I don’t focus all the weight on my legs. This training has also kept my metabolism at an optimal level despite the decreased cardio from running.

Try Something New

I have tried yoga several times in the past but have not really practiced consistently. I decided to give it a shot once more but with a very clear intent on why I am pursuing it. It will be a good complement to my multisport and strength training as it focuses on opening up the hips for better stride and engaging the core for more efficient muscle use. It also helps me regulate my breathing with every movement, a very useful technique when I go through more difficult parts of my running or cycling. Plus it helps me keep my mind still and stay present with each pose.

Watch Food Intake

I have always been liberal with my diet. Since I worked out I usually eat a lot too, burning the calories with every exercise session. Due to diminished activity because of the injury, I had to take stock of what I ate and be more careful about my intake. We just eat white meat and seafood at home together with fruits and vegetables. We reserve red meat and desserts when we go out. But because of a lot of social activities, eating out has become more frequent and less “controllable”. Being more mindful of the portions has helped curb the unnecessary weight gain. It has not been easy since metabolism has slowed down with age. I just can’t really eat as much as I used to and still expect to keep the pounds off.

So I have survived this injury but more importantly, I also survived the recovery period that required me to keep still and relax. I am so excited to start my training and hit the ground running.

2014 was a year of transition but more than that I would like to think of it as a year of giving thanks. Every “yes” uttered in the face of opportunities and challenges is a thank you to the world that has bestowed me with abundance. As we enter a new year, allow me to list some of the things I am most thankful for.

January- Starting the Year with Travel

It was great to set the tone of the year with one of the things I am passionate about, travel. There is so much to explore in this country and we don’t have to go to far off places to have a genuine adventure.

This is how Sundays should be spent.

February – Running and Eating in Tokyo

Running a major marathon in one of my favorite cities in the world was a real treat. It was a fun eat and run themed race and we got to spend time with new friends as we explored Tokyo.

Eat and run for the Tokyo Marathon.

March- Celebrating in Special Places

I am thankful for birthdays spent in a special place. It has been a practice to spend birthdays and anniversaries in new or favorite places. Last year we had Katy’s birthday at Soloviento, a serene lakeside destination that we have fallen in love with.

Lakeside birthday celebration for the little curly haired Katy.

April- Strengthening Relationships

Eight years ago when I was transitioning into a new phase in my career, I visited my best friend who was then based in Hong Kong. Last year when I was about to shift gears at work, it was an interesting coincidence that she was again posted in Hong Kong. There is nothing like spending hours of talking and being with someone who has known you for ages, and who has seen you through all the seasons of your life.

Cheers to almost two decades of friendship.

It was also a time to celebrate the sixth year since our Manila to Morocco wedding. It may be a belated anniversary getaway but it was worth spending it in Pangulasian.

View of Bacuit Bay from Pangulasian’s highest point.

May- Turning Over a New Leaf

As I capped off my stint at my previous company, I said yes to a project that took me on one of my craziest adventures ever. We gave out school supplies and treats to children from a far flung area in Northern Mindanao not knowing that there were risks to security that we were not fully aware of. Fortunately, I came home unscathed but instead renewed with a more adventurous heart as I turned over a brand new leaf in my career.

Always a mountaineer at heart.

June- Having a Safe and Fun Race Season

This month marked the start of my triathlon racing season. Although I have not fully embraced the sport, I am thankful for the chance to hone my skills in two other sports and at the same time firm up the discipline for multisport training.

I am also thankful for my team for adopting me for the rest of the year, allowing me to still wear the Alveo uniform even after I have left the company.

Happy finish!

July- Witnessing My Children’s Immense Joy

Birthdays are best celebrated in special places and happiness exponentially increases if it happens to be my children’s dream come true. We visited Legoland for my son’s birthday and this meant the world to him. Seeing the joy in my little boy’s face is priceless.

With Wyldstyle.

August- Celebrating Birthdays as an Ironman

My birthday weekend falls on my biggest race for the year. It is always an awesome way to spend and remember my special day as I swim 1.9 kilometers, bike for 90 kilometers and run a half marathon. It’s not your usual birthday celebration but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Another birthday, another Ironman finish.

September- Finishing Strong

For the first time in my triathlon racing, I garnered a podium finish. Just before the race I was contemplating on making 2014 my last racing year because I still have not fallen head over heels in love with the sport. But I had so much fun racing and even finished strong that I signed up for two more races this year.

The surprise podium finish to cap off my triathlon season.

October- Getting Into London Marathon

I am thankful for getting into the London Marathon set for April 26 this year. It will be my fifth world major and hopefully my Boston Qualifier. This race will be my most memorable in terms of preparation since I am fund raising for charity and training for a fast race. I also got into other races next year and all entry confirmations came in a just one week in October. But next year’s focus is London.

Three marathon confirmations all in one week.

November- Being Part of the World’s Biggest Race

My heart was overflowing with gratitude as I crossed the finish line at the 2014 New York Marathon. It was my most superb marathon experience so far because of the logistics excellence, crowd participation and wonderful race course. I would not mind doing this race again. Plus I am so happy to have some of my closest friends supporting and cheering me on.

Proud Pinoy Runner

December – Testing My Willpower

I finished my hardest race ever and ran until I could on an injured ankle. I am thankful for the validation that we can truly finish what we set our focus on. I am also happy to finish this with one of my closest friends, someone who has been an instrumental part of my life in the past year.

Hardest race ever but happy to finish.

So I say “thank you” for the year that was and utter a big “yes” to forging forward in 2015.

As we gear up for the new year, it is good to take stock of what worked in the past year, identify key points of improvement and commit to building new practices to become better individuals. I vowed to finish the book “Superhuman by Habit: A Guide to Becoming the Best Possible Version of Yourself” before the end of 2014 to generate more insights as I put together the building blocks for the year to come.

2015 will be a more exciting year as I take on new challenges personally and professionally. This will also be a year of being more conscious of the habits that I choose to pursue. I am currently very interested in the habit of habit-building and will chronicle my learnings throughout the year. I’ll get started by sharing some of the key principles that I shall keep in mind.

Start Small 

Most people think that habits should be hard and painstaking for it to be truly worthwhile. They choose to start on something, get into it head on, discover that it is hard to sustain, not see immediate results and just decide that this is not for them.

Let us take working out as an example. At the start of the year, people decide that they will get into a fitness regimen. They commit to spending an hour at the gym at least three times a week, after work, and expect to see results in a month’s time. Unfortunately, life gets in the way and the schedule for exercise is the first one to go especially if there is no apparent decrease in body weight or a marked muscle gain. This is because it takes a lot of effort to commit to a full hour of exercise. But if we tweak the habit by asking for a commitment of five minutes of work out time per day, then it becomes more doable.

I plan to apply this principle in my writing and reading. I was told that to have a decent blog, I have to write at least three articles a week and aim to  have at least fifty posts before fully launching the site. This seems like a tall order given that I have very limited time. So what I choose to do instead on a daily basis is to write at least 500 words. This is an easy target to accomplish, one that I can do for thirty minutes everyday, before I start my day’s work. It is also important to keep up with my reading list so that I will be able to share more. For this habit, I choose to commit ten minutes a day during the quiet time upon waking. I used to delve straight into my social media feeds upon getting up, as if I would miss out on something if I did not do this immediately. I choose to replace this action with reading books that I find interesting. Considering that my husband has over 150 titles on his Kindle account, it would be a waste not to load up on brain food.

Watch Out for Triggers 

Habits occur after a given trigger. This is very evident in the habit of smoking. Smokers say that lighting a cigarette is automatic after waking up, when going for a dump, after having a meal, when taking a break from work, while having coffee or drinking alcohol. The act of smoking is no longer a mindful act but a resulting action after a given stimulus.

This scenario is very much evident in my relationship with social media. I love social media for the stuff that I learn and for just keeping updated with everyone’s lives. But it sure is addicting and I end up spending so much time on it. It also distracts me throughout the day. Every time I am stumped with a task or unsure of how to proceed with something, I check my timeline. If I am having a hard time tackling a problem or a task seems too overwhelming, I succumb to my feeds. This back and forth between task on hand and social media leaves me feeling unproductive at the end of a day. It is as if I did not get to finish anything even if I seemed busy throughout the day.

This habit is triggered by the feeling of uncertainty in the face of a given task.  As mentioned in the Superhuman book, “Whenever you begin a new habit, you should think about what its trigger is going to be, and to commit to that.” Since I noticed that hitting a stumbling block triggers the action, I will try to replace the automatic response with a new habit, listing three things on how I plan to proceed in order to get over this hurdle. By putting concrete actions on paper, I am forced to think about what needs to be done to move forward. It also keeps me focused on the task on hand so I see it to fruition before doing something else.

Do It Twice Then Quit

There are days that keeping to a task or a habit is just too hard. We all go through moments when we feel that our willpower is not at its most optimal level.The true test of a habit is when we continue to do it even if every fiber of our being wants to do otherwise. The easier path is just to quit and say that we will make up for the lapse the next day. But as we continue to do this, the resolve to commit to a habit weakens as well.

The book proposes that every time we feel the urge to quit, we keep at it twice before finally quitting. The key here is to continue showing up even if you do not feel like it and to carry on with the habit, making a bit of progress. When the urge to stop resurfaces, continue with whatever momentum you have summed up. At this point, you have made some decent progress and you would feel that stopping is no longer an option because of the headway you have made. However, if you still choose to quit, you at least tried to resist the urge twice before giving in.

Keep It Consistent

“Your results will be commensurate with the consistency to which you execute your habits, not to the magnitude of their one-time impact.” Consistency strengthens habits. More than the result, it is repeatedly doing an action that establishes a habit.

According to Tynan, missing two days of a habit is habit suicide. “If missing one day reduces your chances of long term success by a small amount like five percent, missing two days reduces it by forty percent or so. Three days missed and you may as well be starting over.”

For me, I saw this in the habit of sleep. A lot of people take sleep for granted and think that they can just compensate for weekdays of sleep deprivation by sleeping in on weekends. But by not building a good sleeping pattern, you deprive yourself of the much needed rest and recovery that will allow you to function at a more optimal level during the day. Plus  the aggregate effect of not having enough sleep takes its toll on overall health in the long term.

Load Up Before Maintaining

There are two parts to building a habit – the loading up phase and the maintenance phase. As you start on your habit building, you need to load up on it which usually requires more stringent measures to imprint the habit into our system. Only when you have fully embraced the habit and included it in your daily routine that you can relax a bit, shifting it to the maintenance phase.

For this coming year, I plan to take out sugar from my diet to ensure better health in the years to come. I tried this a few months back and it resulted to a more stable weight and less frequent bloating. To get started, I will avoid rice, pasta, pastries, desserts and anything made of artificial and/or refined sugar. I love wine, beer and cocktails so I will try my very best to skip these as well. Until I get into a rhythm where I can safely say that I can skip these types of food despite the abundance and availability will I start on a maintenance phase, complete with cheat days.

Chaining Must Do Events 

“Think about all the things that absolutely must get done in a day and work them into chains…. It is through this process that habits give you freedom— chains take care of the necessities of life and leave you with time and willpower to make forward progress….It is important to think of your job or your work primarily as a system of habits.”

One of the most powerful things I learned from the Superhuman book is building your day using chains of habits, linking each one and making each habit a trigger for the next one. I have been trying to practice this in the past year as I accomplish a task based on a routine sequence. It is not always successful and I fail a lot but what keeps me going is the thought that my day’s design primarily falls on my shoulders. Although there may be a lot of unexpected things happening around me, I can at least have some semblance of control if I keep to my day’s chain of events.

Choose A Good Habit Environment

A habit grows freely in the right environment. “Simplicity and freedom from distraction are the core components of the habit builder’s habitat.” This is why it is important to create the proper context for a habit to flourish.

For the coming year, I would like to devote time for meditation. To get started, I will start small with just having five minutes of quiet every day. I plan to do this right after my daily training, after stretching in the gym’s serene studio. This is also my way of saying thank you to the universe for allowing me to accomplish a full workout session. After a strenuous training, it would be nice to finish off with a short quiet time to just settle in before tackling the rest of the day’s work.

Find A Strong Motivation

But what really gets us to stick to a habit is having the right motivation. As they say, real change is the product of motivation. What allows us to keep on doing something is the vision of who we want to become at the end of the process. How badly we want something to be our reality will be the driver for us to stay committed to doing what we do day in and day out.

2015 is all about getting better at my craft, becoming the best runner that I can ever be. This year’s goal is to run a 3:35  marathon at the very least so I can qualify for the 2016 Boston Marathon. This is not an easy path but I am thankful that I am clear about what I want to achieve in this sport this year. This clarity gives me focus and determination as I map out how my year of training will flow.  I am scared and excited and I can’t wait to get started in my training.

So as the year comes to an end, it is good to identify things that we do each day and identify how we can adjust them to make them a little better, and make life a little better. And yes we can be super humans, beings who can “exceed our normal capabilities just by learning how to use our willpower as efficiently as possible… habitualizing as much as possible, taking actions that previously consumed willpower and making them automatic.”

Looking forward to a great year in 2015!

Game face on and looking forward to 2015!

Every year I always think that I am better off than the previous year. But 2014 is quite special since I have chosen to initiate major changes in my worldview and way of doing things. These have enabled me to find myself more in the things that I do. Ultimately it is about making the choice that works for you.  I just want to share some of this year’s most valuable learnings as my way of thanking the world for all the blessings in the past months.

Choose Yourself

This may seem like a selfish learning but I have realised that you can give more of yourself to work, family, community, others by taking care of yourself. You cannot draw anything meaningful and worthwhile from something that is empty or spent so it pays to fill up your well with experiences that keep you whole.  I read a book of the same title by James Altucher and he speaks of only doing things you enjoy “Only think about the people that you enjoy. Only read the books you enjoy, that make you happy to be human. Only go to the events that actually make you laugh or fall in love. Only deal with the people who love you back, who are winners and want you to win too. This is a daily practice…. Every time you say yes to something you don’t want, your fire starts to go away.”

My running and training is a way of choosing myself amidst all the demands of the various roles that I play. It is not about escaping from all the responsibilities but it is about spending time with one’s self, doing something that I love. Movement has been my meditation and it has given me the opportunity to find my center. This practice has actually helped me become a cooler mom, a more loving wife, a more engaged worker and an overall happier individual willing to reach out to do more and be more in this world.

Choose to Focus

In a world where multitasking is praised, it may seem counterintuitive to just choose to do one thing at a time. But spreading your attention too thinly leaves you with half-baked, mediocre work or experiences or just doing things simply for compliance. If it is something that is truly important to you then focus on it. Whatever you focus on expands.

This is most apparent with the work that I do now. Since it is less structured and more fluid than a corporate set-up, it is important to have some discipline in the way I carry out things. I realized that if I put a certain framework to how my day will flow and chunk my work hours into focused activities, I get to accomplish a lot more. Activities that require more effort are done early in the day from around 8:00 AM until around 4:00 PM. I am a morning person and I would rather wake up at dawn to work on a pending project than stay up past 10:00 PM. I choose to focus on having enough rest so I wake up refreshed and operate much more efficiently the next day.

Choose to Prioritize

A lot of things seem urgent in a world of bustle. But you have to choose to weed out what is truly important. Everything else is just noise. Schedule what is important to give these the time that they are due. Eventually these will evolve into habits that you can’t live without every single day. Once you have set your priorities, it is easier to focus. At the same time, there is also much liberty for spontaneity since you have already earmarked time for the most significant things and can therefore choose to spend the extra time for other interesting things.

At first glance, my day looks pretty routinary:

• 5:00AM Wake Up
• 5:50AM Breakfast
• 6:00AM Leave for the Gym
• 6:30AM – 8:00AM Training
• 8:00AM – 9:00AM Write or do consultancy-based work
• 9:00AM – 9:45AM Clear work inbox, make presentations
• 10:00AM – Start meetings or do important work
• 4:00PM-6:00PM – Check email, set meetings, do paperwork
• 7:00PM – Dinner
• 7:30PM to 10:00PM- Play time with kids
• 10:00PM Lights Out

I really like it that I know how my day generally flows with the most important tasks allocated specific time chunks. But this framework is flexible enough to accommodate activities that align as well with the priorities that I have set, for things that I truly enjoy.

Choose Experiences over Things 

I recently read an interesting write-up that touched on this topic as well. In the article “Abundance Without Attachment”, the author cites a 2003 study conducted by psychologists from the University of Colorado and Cornell about how people remembered different kinds of purchases – material things and experiences- they have made in the past. They found that reflecting on experiential purchases left their subjects significantly happier than did remembering material acquisitions.

I think I have written about this in past posts but this remains a significant learning that I live by. I don’t really remember gifts I have received from previous Christmases or birthdays but I remember the time when we got lost in a new city or that time when we pitched a tent by the lakeside and had a picnic there.

Choose the Company You Keep

We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Yes we are our own person but we also are affected, more than we want to admit it, by the people around us. We feed off other people’s enthusiasm, energy and positive dispositions but we also get drained by negativity. We may not be able to choose to be with people we like in the work that we do but we can choose to detach from other people’s neediness and ego so we can focus on the task that needs to be done. But for those who we hold dear and spend the most time with, choose with utmost discernment. Our worldview is coloured by the company we keep.

Choose to Learn

In making decisions, choose the path where learning is maximised. There may be a lot of options and all may seem interesting but go where you will get the most valuable learning.

I chose to leave a stable career that I truly enjoyed for something that was just starting out. I have always wanted to start something on my own but have not totally figured out what it was. I told myself that the only way to discover it and at the same time learn how to build a business is if  I immersed myself in a startup. So I took a leap of faith. I’m glad I did because nothing can compare to learning things firsthand and being on the ground as things happen.

Choose to Build Habits

I am constantly asked how to get started on a fitness regimen. I always tell people to start with very little time investment, like lightly jogging or walking for five minutes at 6PM every day. You have to make it easy to get started. Then you gradually increase the time spent on the exercise. Before you know it you are already doing a full thirty-minute run.

The key is to show up, to be there when you said you will. Then it becomes an integral part of your day that you can’t live without. As mentioned in the book Superhuman by Tynan- “Start small, become consistent, and increase at a manageable pace. That’s how you optimise for the finish line, rather than the starting line”.

I share these learning to you as my gift this Christmas. I don’t have much material things to give out but I give you my time and my written words to celebrate this blessed season. Merry Christmas and looking forward to another great year ahead!

Choose to spend time with yourself. I am thankful that running gives me an opportunity to find my center amidst all the bustle.

The dream to run all the World Marathon Majors started in 2012, after I ran my first major marathon in Berlin. I did not know that an elite circle of the world’s biggest races existed until I saw signs about it at the marathon expo. I had such a great time running Berlin and enjoyed the vibe of a great city race that I started reading more about the other major runs.

Berlin Marathon 2012, the race that got me started on the quest to finish all of the World Marathon Majors by 2016.

So towards the end of 2012, I started to plot out the races that I would do in the next four years.  I have already been rejected twice for the New York Marathon since I started entering the lottery in 2011 so I said I would just go for the guaranteed entry in 2014. I checked other marathons that I could get into just by signing up.

At that time, the Chicago Marathon was the only that was not doing a lottery entry. It was set for October 13, 2013, perfect timing since I also wanted to do another interesting race, the Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco, a week after. It was my first ever back-to-back marathon, another separate topic to talk about. I absolutely loved my Chicago Marathon experience and did my PR at 3 hours 50 minutes. This further firmed up my resolve to finish all majors by 2016.

I got into the 2014 Tokyo Marathon via lottery on my first try. They opened the registration August 2013 and although I knew that it was hard to get a slot, I decide to push my luck. The lottery was ten times oversubscribed but I was happy to get in. This marathon was the latest addition to the WMM and it is good that we now have one in Asia, giving more opportunities to Filipinos to run a major without traveling so far. This was a mostly flat but very cold race. I liked how it was super organised as expected given that the Japanese are known for their clockwork precision. Also, the crowd was very supportive in their own polite way, handing out food and treats to runners throughout the course.

Just a few weeks ago, I completed my fourth major in New York which I wrote about in a previous post. This is a race that I would love to do again. They say that in terms of terrain it is a Jekyll and Hyde with its benevolent descents and sinister climbs but it is what makes this race a very interesting one. A big factor of what makes this run special is the superb race organisation and crowd participation.

I can’t wait to get back to my training routine to prepare for the next one, London Marathon in April 2015. I am excited for this marathon for several reasons. It is the first time that I am running for charity, for a cause that is close to my heart. I will be raising funds and running for Scope, a charity focused on disability. I am also excited to run such a beautiful course that weaves through the city’s most iconic landmarks. I am also looking forward to run fast as I try to make this my Boston Qualifier. There, I have said it out loud and declared it to the rest of the world 🙂

2016 is the year for Boston, if all things go as planned. Of course there always will be curveballs along the way but my mind is focused on that as a goal. So time to recover from the injury so I can start training for it. For now the task on hand is to work on my London Marathon fund raising. I have a long way to go but I am confident and pumped up to work on this. There really is nothing like working on a lifelong dream and seeing it coming to fruition 🙂

If you would like to support me for the London Marathon, please click here.

The Christmas parties and get-togethers have started. It is indeed the happiest time of the year, but it is also the time when our habits go out of the window as our schedules get filled with one social function after another. On one hand, it is a good break from the daily routine especially if you have been training for most of the year.  But on the other hand, you would not want to start from ground zero  with every day that you miss doing your  hard-earned good habits.

I am currently reading “Superhuman: A Guide to Becoming the Best Possible Version of Yourself” by Tynan. In this book, he highlights that the power of a habit is not actually in the individual execution, but in the consistency. He says that is is far worse to skip doing something than to just do a horrible job of it. So he suggests to make the habits relatively easy, but never miss doing them. I shall write more extensively about habits as a topic once I finish the entire book.

Admittedly, I have not been as religious in my fitness and wellness routine in the past weeks but I try to keep to some of my basic ones:

Exercise First Thing in the Morning

With all the social events, it is so easy to just bump off your exercise schedule. To resolve this, workout in the morning. You are much more in control of your mornings especially when the rest of the world is still in deep slumber. This works for me because I am naturally a morning person but I can imagine that it may be a struggle for someone who is not. The key is knowing what time of day you have most control of and weave your training into this time. This also does not leave you with a lot of excuses since there is nothing really vying for your time early in the morning. I also realised that the repetitive movement of exercise provides me with a sense of stillness that has helped me stay calm and collected in various situations. Doing this has allowed me to start my day at a settled pace instead of just rushing out to tackle the day.

Eat at Home Before Going Out

If the social event is more of cocktails and pica pica, better to just eat dinner at home first, if you can, so you have control of what you will have for your meal. It is rare that healthy party food will be served so instead of going to these parties hungry and just bingeing on whatever the waiter brings to your table, you are better off nourished by food staples from your home. If this is not possible, at least try to eat healthy elsewhere before going for drinks.

Get a Smaller Plate at Parties

With all the buffet and yummy food around, it is so tempting to just keep on eating. So make it a little inconvenient to eat a lot by using smaller plates. This forces you to just choose more deliberately on what you put on your plate as well as discern on quantity since you have limited space. There is also the hassle of going back for seconds or thirds so it is a natural deterrent for over indulging.

Locate Yourself Away from the Buffet and Bar

The tendency of people is to sit as close as possible to where the food and drinks are so that it is easier to go back for extra servings and summon the waiters for additional orders. By being as far as possible from the buffet you take out the temptation and therefore avoid getting stuck in a situation where you have to make the difficult decision of whether you will go back for a second serving. The extra chore of walking and lining up will make the decision not to go easier. This works specially for people like me who are impulsive and have very low EQ.

Hydrate

I love to hydrate, not just with water and gatorade but also with beer, wine and cocktails. And the holidays are the perfect excuse to indulge a bit on the booze even if we are aware that these are laden with calories. So to make sure that I take it easy on the caloric intake but at the same time still enjoy my IPA, I make sure that I drink at least twice the amount of water for every glass of alcohol. It also helps ward off the hangover.

Also, drinking a glass of water before a meal allows your tummy to settle a bit and gives you a feeling of satiety so you don’t have to stuff yourself silly as soon as you see food.

So let us all be merry, but always in moderation and continue to be mindful of our habits throughout the holidays.

Yes I love a nice big mug of beer, or two 🙂

I first read about Scott Jurek in the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. He is one of the world’s greatest ultramarathoners and the book narrates how he experienced the unique opportunity  to run with the Tarahumara, a reclusive tribe from the Mexican Copper Canyons, known for their super athletic capabilities.

I also got to read his book Born to Run where he chronicles his unlikely journey to ultra marathon greatness.  He highlights how it is important to have an iron will and a strong mindset in this sport. He also emphasises the significance of food as fuel and how the right food can contribute to athletic performance and recovery.

Scott Jurek shares stories of running, ultra marathoning and living on a plant-based diet.

So imagine the joy I felt when my husband told me that he was in town for a talk. I quickly asked Jonel of FrontRunner, the organiser if I may be accommodated considering that it was only a few hours before the event. I told him that I am a huge fan and that I can just stand if all seats were already taken. I was so happy when he said that I could join.

Scott Jurek Live! at the ADB Theater last December 10. Event was made possible by FrontRunner.

In a roomful of expectant runners and ultramarthoners. Onscreen, you can see Scott running with one of the Tarahumara’s best runners, Arnulfo Quimare.

There is nothing like listening to your idol as he talks about a topic that you are passionate about, especially if it validates some of the principles that you already live by. The timing of his talk was also perfect since I was still struggling physically and emotionally about the recent injury I went through at the Singapore Marathon.  So allow me to share the five things I learned from Scott Jurek.

Scott talks about “Going the distance.”

You Have to Really Want It

Training for something takes a lot of time and resources. You have to make sure that this is what you really want to do and get better at. Otherwise, you are better off expending your effort elsewhere. Remember that what you focus on expands and improves so be mindful that you only prioritise the things that make your heart sing. You have to want it enough to know more about it so you can tweak as you go along towards mastery of the sport.

For instance, training during race season usually takes up two hours a day and even longer on weekends. These hours could have been used to spend time with friends, to sleep longer or to have a bit of downtime – all important things. But training is much more  important and takes precedence.

Let Go of Control

As you get better at something, you have to be able to accept as well that there are a lot of factors not within your control. With improvement comes the knowledge that there is so much more to learn as well as humility that allows us to respect the unknown and embrace the setbacks. But letting go also gives us the courage to get out of our comfort zone to see how else we can push beyond our created limits.

This lesson was particularly poignant in light of the recent running mishaps I went through in the past month. As I shared in previous posts, I questioned why these things happened given that I was careful and that I prudently prepared. But you can just really do so much. It is hard but it is worthwhile to be able to hold two very polar truths in your head – that you are in control of your destiny and that there are simply some things that are not within your control as you go down your chosen path.

Turn Setbacks Into Advantages

In the face of the unexpected, start by embracing the setback and accepting the emotions that come with it. Then get past the emotion so you can take stock of the problem and find a remedy to the situation. Only when you go through these steps can you put a positive spin to the unfortunate event.

Scott Jurek shared his experience of running on a sprained ankle for a hundred miles. It seemed like my Singapore Marathon experience of running for thirty-seven kilometres on an injured ankle paled in comparison. But his story resonated with me because it was the process I went through as well in the first five minutes of my injury. I had to accept that my ankle was swelling like a golf ball, let myself feel the wave of emotions from hurt to anger to frustration then start being objective about what needs to be done. Only when I got to pull myself together that I was able to assess that nothing was broken and that I could still run (painfully) but that I had to be careful and not put extra pressure on the left leg. So I ran   supported by my arms and core, slowly feeling better that I am able to still continue the race despite what happened.

Always Be Present

In long distance running, you have to be able to turn off the mental noise to keep your mind strong. It is easy to just think about how long you will be running, drift off and let all sorts of thoughts run through your mind. This will leave you spent and unfocused. Instead stay in the now by focusing on your form and stride, being mindful of your technique and how your body moves, staying conscious of your breathing. It is this internal coming together that will allow us to go on, to always have the “little more to give” even if we think we have given it our all.

I think being present is one of the key reasons why I finish races. I try not to think about the distance but compress the goal into smaller chunks that I can easily hold in my mind at any given instant. Especially if I’m having a tough time I really take it a kilometre at a time, just happy to advance to the next one, resetting my form and stride as I cross each kilometre marker.  I have also taught myself not to listen to any music during training and racing and instead just listen to the sound of my steps, the sounds around me and my personal mantra, “This is what you came here for”.

Look Beyond Your Goals

It is not just about the PRs or joining your must do races. It is truly about following your passion, continuing to learn more about it and eventually sharing this to others. It is also about giving back to the community and to the family who have supported you in your journey.

I guess this blog is my way of saying thank you to the world that has given me this unique opportunity to pursue my heart’s desire. I hope to give more as I continue on my path of learning more about running, racing, traveling….. and life as a whole.

I almost did not finish today’s Singapore Marathon. I was off to a good start despite the crowded starting line. I decided that I would run this at an easy six minutes per kilometer hoping to finish a little past four hours. I was settling into a good rhythm right before the 5KM mark when another runner suddenly cut me off to overtake. I tripped on his foot, causing my left ankle to twist hard. Sharp pain shot up from my ankle all the way to my knees. I quickly hobbled to the side of the road to avoid getting trampled on by the throng of runners. I was cringing in pain for around three to five minutes, eyes shut tight to block it all off. I mustered all my strength to get my bearings, moved my toes and ankle a bit to check if anything was broken. I had just recently recovered from another accident almost three weeks ago that left my right ankle sprained so I knew how to check if the injury was a sprain or a fracture. It clearly has not been a lucky month.

My mind was racing whether I should stop and not finish the race or proceed with caution. Since nothing seemed broken, I decided to go ahead with the race, knowing too that there are risks to running on an injured ankle for an extended period. I didn’t want to look at my ankle but I knew that in a matter of hours it could be as big as a golf ball.

So I ran carefully from KM 5 to 36. At around KM 7 I felt my right knee locking and getting really painful. It might be because the right leg was already over compensating for the injured leg. Clearly there already was a physical imbalance. So I tried getting more strength from my arms and core to help my legs run. I also avoided stopping at every water station since stopping means I had to reset my legs and that was such a hard thing to do. So I filled up my bottle with drinks and just stopped after every two water stations. I was still quite happy that I never walked despite the injury.

And then suddenly I could not run anymore past KM 36. I tried striking one foot after another but at this point the pain was already unbearable. A big part of me wanted to run, driven by pride. But I really couldn’t. So I humbly resigned to the reality that I will have to walk the rest of the way. At this point I also felt a strong resolve that said “$&@:) it. I will finish this even if I have to crawl to the finish line.” So I hobbled and limped my way to KM 42.

Throughout this ordeal I went through the entire spectrum of emotions. I started hurt then angry thinking that I have always been a careful runner and made the necessary preparations so why did this happen to me. Then vengeful, cursing the man who accidentally tripped me, remembering that he looked back when he heard me howl in pain but still sped on. Then disappointed that it was not a fun, easy race as I wanted it to be.  I was also frustrated that I got injured again in a span of one month. Then there was a feeling of acceptance that it is what it is then resignation that it was gonna be a long, hot day.

And then finally I felt the resolve to push to the finish. I said to myself that it was my choice to be in this exact moment. It may not have turned out according to plan but there really are things you cannot control as much as you want to. You may be a very careful runner but there are others who are careless. You may have prepared for it but there are things that are really unexpected. And yes these apply to life in general too. Life will throw curveballs at us and the only thing we can really control is how we react to these.

Despite the quiet swings in emotion and the looming doubt whether I could finish this race, I managed to pull myself together and trudged on. As I saw the finish line, tears flowed down my cheeks. This  was definitely one of the hardest things I have done in my life. But I thank God for the resolve to finish what I started, to focus on the goal at hand. I want to believe that I am emerging from this test of willpower as a much stronger person, capable of keeping at it despite the odds.

The smile belies the physical and internal turmoil. Just happy to finish 🙂