Continuing The Base Building Phase

For the elites, the base building phase can take up for 6 months. And that's before they embark on a 4-month marathon specific training. For me 4 months will have to do. Next week will mark the end of 1 month's return to training and the entry into the serious stuff where emphasis are placed on the long runs of up to 25K, tempos, hills and threshold runs. BUT before that begins, I still have to wrap this week up with a longer run tomorrow and to complete next week in a flourish. Here was what I did this week.

Thursday
Carbokid 2 had his second injection today. As expected the poor fella bawled but not for long. He has been very colicky of late and it can tax even the most patient caregivers. There's no way out except to comfort him the best we can and hope this phase passes quickly. C2 is definitely different from C1. C1 is darn tough even when he was small - so tough that the doctor was surprised that he (C1) didn't cry at each of his innoculation. Then C1 wasn't colicky at all and was quite problem free in his baby days.

Running was again around my housing area. TOF was 52 minutes and change, close to the timing and pacing of Monday's workout. I noticed that of late, I'm running at a faster pace, something I need to correct quickly as I look to extend my runs beyond 1 hour.

Friday
It's back to work! The 50 of us from the Tech Group went for a "hoi kong" lunch at the Minmax Restaurant. It was the 2nd 8-course meal I've had this Chinese New Year. I know, this is nothing compared to what some of you had had but I guess it's OK. Next Friday is when the real action will be - a Japanese Buffet dinner at Jagoya at the Starhill Centre. I believe it costs RM100+ per pax. They serve some very expensive stuff there, so my workouts next week will be geared in such a way that I can indulge in this dinner. Next Saturday's is our departmental Teambuilding with planned activities such as paintball and a spa session at one of the more expensive spas in PJ (can't remember the name). I've opted for a facial, body scrub and Japanese massage package. I will be sure to run hard the whole week and really enjoy the spa! On the work front, I counted 200+ emails waiting for me at the office which will definitely add to my list of outstanding items.

I ran with Newton (it was really some time since he ran) in the evening. Planned was 6 laps but we managed just 5 as he needed to return back to the office to clear more work. TOF for me was exactly 45 minutes.

Saturday
An early date with Geraldine, Fook and Grace. It was nice to see Grace again and she seemed to have recovered from the knee injuries. As they proceeded to Hartamas, I did my usual 30 minutes out and 30 back routine and found that I completed the same distance 6 minutes faster. A "warmdown" jog with the Beginners around the lake completed my morning workout. The evening program will be some grocery shopping at Tesco, followed by an outing with a close friend to catch the Liverpool-Man United match. Once again MU didn't play with the kind of incisiveness during their charge to the title. But then, in the many seasons when they won the title, many games were decided in the final few minutes, with a bit of luck as well as some individual brilliance. And all that came together in the Anfield game. Liverpool will have felt hard done by but that's the nature of the game. The Kopites will have to try again next year. As for United, 2 more wins should more or less wrap things up. Woo hoo! Now to concentrate on the Champions League.



Clips from www.saikaiball.com

Sunday
Wrapped up the week with a LT workout. Total TOF was 40 minutes. There are loads of things to strategize at work tomorrow which will demand quite a bit of thinking but run I shall, in the evening. There will also be some planning required in the training aspect as next week will be the final week of base before the serious stuff come in.