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slimmin n trimmin

For the last few days, after waking up, I’ve been spending some time in bed, running my hands along my body and man, I’m liking what I feel. I’ve been running, on average, around 30km a week for almost a month now. Some weeks a little more and some a little less. I initially wanted to do 40km per but it’s harder than I thought to find time for myself. Regardless, I’ve been more disciplined than ever before and it hasn’t been hard for me to find the motivation to get out the door. That rhyme was unintentional. I do have my off-days but I’m generally okay. Even today I did 11km although I had about five hours of sleep. Not bad, eh?  I’m going to feel damn exhausted in a few hours though…

There have definitely been some tricks to help keep myself on track. I think it’s been really helpful having a concrete distance goal; that way, I can plan out my weeks in advance and ensure that I can set aside the time for my runs no matter how packed it may be. I used to run at night but lately I’ve been running in the mornings and early afternoons. By doing my laps first in the day, I’m more likely to have the energy and to fully commit to it. Before, I would leave my runs for last, after everything else in a day and I would often use an outing that ended much too late as an excuse to skip a night run. Now that I’ve been reserving this time for myself, it has encourage me to make people work around my schedule instead of the other way around and my decision to run generally does not depends on other events planned in my day. It’s great. I’m giving myself the time to work on me, which is something that always keeps me going. I’ve also paired running with tuning into podcasts and it definitely has been keeping me really entertained. This week I’ve learned a lot about cockroaches, walruses and Sea-Monkeys. Did you know walruses can be around 3000 pounds? And Sea-Monkeys are actually human-altered brine shrimp? An hour goes by much faster than listening to the same ol’ run track I use. When it comes to bringing yourself exercise, I’ve heard it’s very helpful to do things step-by-step. Instead of sitting around, battling with idea of going to the gym, etc., it generally helps when you just start by put on your gym clothes and running shoes first. At that point, you’re just one step closer and you’re more likely to pull through. I totally think it works. For me, strangely, it’s taking a shower and putting on makeup almost as soon as I wake up. I feel like once I prepare myself for the day, it’s a waste and it’s quite hard for me to sit at home. Makeup’s expensive shit, man. And thank god I usually don’t sweat. When I’m done my run my makeup’s still fresh and I’m good to go for the day. Having a routine in general definitely helps too. I think it helps condition body and mind to be ready for the dash. I always give myself some time to sip on decaffeinated Earl Grey and listen to opera to help wake myself up. Having all these things together just gives me all the willpower and now it’s all easy-peasy.

It’s just really exciting that I can finally see some results. I haven’t looked at a scale at all but there’s no denying that I’m losing some flab. I’m nowhere as skinny as I want to be but I’m very satisfied with where I am now. No more belly spilling over my waistband, my sweats are starting to feel loose around my thighs and butt, and running in general is so much easier without all those extra pounds. I just need another month. Another thing I’m super happy about.. I know it’s not the way to go but having been running so much, I haven’t had to pay much attention to my diet at all. I eat what I like, until I can’t anymore. I think my meals are general pretty healthy but I haven’t cut down on my sweets at all and I eat a lot. Maybe around 100g of chocolate a day? Just a couple of nights ago, I essentially finished a large bag of Ruffles All Dressed chips on my own. And I’m still losing weight. I have to say that’s pretty sweeeet.

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Woke up from an ant crawling on my body… signs of spring.

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Run, rabbit, run.

Less than 48 hours until the SG Standard Chartered Marathon and my legs are still sore from training and my sleep patterns are more fucked up than ever. The run’s at 4:30AM so it might actually help since I’ve been waking around 5AM daily. I’m kind of excited and nervous all at same time; I want to push myself to my limit but I’m afraid I won’t do as well as I want. The forecast calls for rain and that terrifies the shit out of me. Last time I had to deal with that, I had blisters on my feet and a terrible score. Fingers crossed and praying to the gods on my auntie’s alter for a change of weather. Running’s been a little more liberating than usual for me in the past days and been helping me keep things off my mind. The last run I went through East Coast Park, to Marina Bay to the Marina Barrage and it was fucking amazing. The beach, the skyline, the lights… it was all so surreal. I hope the race views will be just as impressive. I just need my body to keep up with me…

I haven’t been doing very much this trip other than running, eating and spending a lot of time indoors. It’s a huge contrast from last year and the year before. Looking for boars and bothering monkeys on Pulau Ubin, exploring temples and museums, cocktail bar hopping, searching for the legadary wild cow on Coney Island… which is apparently dead now. Come to think of it, it might have already been dead when I was searching for it. Whoops. Also, I haven’t been playing Gitadora much. Who am I? I think I’m just drained from work. And with plenty of sleepless nights, I’ve been trying conserve a lot of energy for my runs. I’m not stressing over it any which way. I’m guess I’m just on different footing right now.

Wish me luck for my run.

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notable eats so far:

Peranakan @ The Peranakan Restaurant

salted fish skins @ Irvin’s (People line up an hour before opening and it sells out. Worth the wait.)

Seafood [cereal prawns, yam scallop rings] @ Jumbo

Had cereal prawn three times now… First time around I peeled the shells off. Noticed my friend didn’t have any left over on his plate so the second time around, I peeled and ate, half and half. On the third try, I just motherfucking ate them all, head and tail intact. Like a true homegrown Singaporean. What what. Can’t say it was a completely enjoyable experience though…

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$30 Classpass referral link!

For anyone who enjoys a little variety in their workout regimen, I urge you to try out Classpass. I’ve been using it for over a year so far and it never fails me. I love my studio classes and it really pairs well with my travels. I can use it whether I’m home, in Vancouver, Tampa and many other cities!

The app can be downloaded on your phone. Here’s a referral link that lets you get $30 (and $30 for me too!):

http://class.ps/el7WT

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Yes, I’m Asian now stop saying ni hao to me — RE: Do you experience any prejudice while travelling?

Title’s borrowed from Vice because there’s no better way for me to express how I feel. I can’t stress how much I like this as a topic to write about. I think it is especially relevant after a short trip in Winnipeg. To answer this frankly, my answer is yes, I experience a lot of prejudice when I am travelling. I think everyone will have a very different experience from one another by how they act, how they dress or simply because of how they look, etc. but I think I especially get a lot more of the strange behaviours from people. It’s a love-hate relationship but the perks generally outweigh the disadvantages. I think Asian girls (East-Asian, in particular) have it easier than people of other ethnicities; I can relate to mild forms of racism but not enough for it to be any detriment to my daily life. I’m actually quite thankful of my experiences with prejudice; they better equip me for future situations and they make good stories to tell.

I’m going to start off with my general experiences when I travel. Strangers always talk to me. In many cities, I think people see me as an ‘exotic’; I’m an Asian girl, with silver/blond hair, with a tattoo sleeve, usually with crazy nails and I can’t say I dress conservatively either. In some cities, I simply feel like I stand out because of the way I dress but in other cities, I feel totally out of place with everything combined and I find a lot of people staring at me and looking me up and down in cities like Winnipeg, Calgary, Seattle and Boston to name a few. I’m sure I look bizarre or eccentric to people in those cities so strangers off the street will approach me to start conversations with me. Usually, it will be to ask or complement me about my tattoos and as you would expect, most them are men who are trying to pick me up. (Life has been very different after getting a tattoo +I’ll be writing a post about that sometime after.) I often get asked where I’m from which leads to a conversation about why I’m in town… to what I’m doing at night… to whether I need company. It’s not a difficult thing to deal with but it’s usually an uncomfortable situation for me. It’s only unbearable when I have to deal with yellow-fever, or Asian fetishism and it happens a lot when I’m travelling in less multi-cultural cities. But, surprising enough, I even get that same exotic-factor to a certain degree in Asian countries. It doesn’t happen as often, at least until some kind of discourse begins but once I mention I’m from Toronto, it’s just as bad or even worse. I can see people’s eyes light up and they start to become very interested in what I have to say. And although I am Asian, many Asians who are born and raised inland don’t see me as an Asian girl first; they perceive me to be a Western girl above all else and automatically assume I am experimental, wild, open-minded, etc. These preconceived ideas are not too problematic; compared to many of the people there, I definitely am a lot less conservative but many times people will automatically sexualize this image of me and I suddenly become a caricature of “Girls Gone Wild”. Someone once asked me for permission to sext me because he learned it was a common thing in North America. It’s a gross feeling. I feel objectified, fetishized and, above all else, used. It has an ill-effect on how inland-born Asian women see me as well. I’m being stalked by a couple girls in Singapore even though I’m on the other side of the world and others have banned their boyfriends from chatting/hanging out with me because they see me as a threat. One girl got mad because her boyfriend offered and drove me home when I was on crutches. Go figure.

One important thing I’ve learned during my travels is that one of the best ways to stay safe is by blending into the crowd and with the physical attributes I mentioned, it’s been pretty hard for me in the last year. I wish I knew what made me a target for my accident in Bali. While some people tell me it was probably due to the way I dressed, others told me that it was simply because I looked East Asian and therefore was assumed that I was a rich girl. Two reasons, one within my control and one not; regardless, standing out puts me at high risk for thefts, scams, and danger in general. I stand out like a sore thumb and I think that’s also the reason why I am always ‘randomly’ selected for screening at the airport. I don’t know whether or not look shady but I always get the drug swab and the additional pat-down.

People always ask me for the time, for directions and to help them take a picture. It’s so strange. It happens so often that it gets pretty irritating. I walk away when I see a touristy-looking family pull out a camera because I know I’m the one they’re going to ask for help. The difference between my experience and those of my friends are pretty striking. I had a conversation about this with a girlfriend, Sonia, who told me that when she travels, people seldom approach her for directions, the time, etc. She attributes it to her ‘resting-bitch-face’. I attribute it to her witch-y aesthetic. I have to admit, I was pretty intimidated when I saw her and our friendship wouldn’t have been where it is today if it wasn’t for her speaking to me first, haha. Anyways, I think the easy-to-perceive characteristics come together for each person to create a degree of approachability. Despite my tattoos, Sonia thinks I have a high approachability factor because I have a happy disposition and I seem like a friendly person which I guess encourages strangers to talk to me.

I don’t experience a lot of racism, at least at a face-to-face basis but I have had my share of unfortunately situations. Strange enough, the most racism I have experienced in my life has been in Vancouver, where I’ve been told to go back to my own country (funny, because I was born in Canada). I do, however, experience more mild forms of racism and a lot of reverse racism. It really bothers me when people assume I am a certain ethnicity without asking me first. I get a lot of ‘nee-hao’s and ‘konnichiwa’s from strangers when I’m walking by, especially if they are trying to sell me something. Funny how people never ask me if I like French automatically assume I like sushi and bubble tea. I know most people are trying to be friendly but frankly, it’s a little presumptuous and that offends me. This racism isn’t restricted to non-Asians. A lot of people who make these assumptions of me are Asian themselves, speaking to me in Chinese without knowing whether I understand or not. Why can’t people ask first? In cities that are predominately very white, people always ask me where I’m from. Even if I’m minding my own business like buying something at the store, or just eating at a restaurant, I get that question all the time. Most people expect me to name an Asian country and they’re always in awe when I say I’m from Toronto. I also often get told “your English is really good” or “it really surprised me that you don’t have an accent”. A stranger at a Walmart went out of their way tell me the latter phrase when he overheard me asking staff where to find something.

Apart from the racial prejudices, I’d say that more often than not, preconceived perceptions of who I am as a person work in my favour. I’m pretty shy to approach people so it’s pretty easy to make friends if they’re approaching me first and now I’m fortunate to have a few friends in a few different cities. A trip to the bar is always an interesting one; people can quickly figure out that I’m not from around town so even though they ask that dreaded question of where I’m from, the usually conversation is harmless and I end up having a very interesting night with some quick tips on where to hit up in town. Sometimes if it’s with the bartender, it means a cocktail on the house! I can’t deny there are certain charms of being a travelling young girl. 😉 Anyways, learned some quick tips from someone who seemed to have mastered avoiding strangers talking to them (thanks Sandia!):

  • Walk with headphones/earphones in
  • Walk fast
  • Walk with purpose
  • Don’t make eye-contact with people.
  • (and I think it would be helpful to) Practice resting-bitch-face
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Rolls and Punches: My first trail race experience

I am writing from Manitoba! This weekend here I took on my first race out of Toronto and my first-ever trail race in Birds Hill Provincial Park with the Summer Trail Series. I will include more information about these Manitoban series of races at the end of this post but for now I simply want to focus on my run experience which I hope will be particularly helpful for friends who want to tackle their first trail run in the future!

I have always preferred running on trails or trail-like environments over urban settings. I am easily frustrated by stoplights and traffic, plus I love the idea of catching sight of wild animals that are less commonly seen. However, a long trail run is a totally different monster from a long paved run. The race I undertook was 10km long and the strongest impression it left on me was that it was much harder than I expected. Personally, this run was more difficult for me to tackle than a half marathon. To be fair, I did not have much preparation; I found out that I would be running this race pretty late so the only practice I managed to fit into my schedule was a single 10km sidewalk run. But even then, I am usually very confident in running a regular 10km and I fully expected that I would complete the race in under 55 minutes when I ended up taking 1 hour and 18 minutes. Even on my laziest runs, I may go as slow as 6:30/km but I couldn’t even do that. To be prepared for a trail race, one definitely needs to train trail. I was running on terrain that I had never run on before; I found myself running over dirt, rocks, grass, over and under logs, while avoiding branches and various wild animal poop. The ups and downs are much steeper than I have ever experienced in an urban setting and never-ending turns demolished my calves. Thus, although I really wanted to stay under an hour, it was pretty hard when I was also trying hard not to kill myself. I did in fact fall once, along with a million stumbles, but no harm done. Aside from the fact that it was extremely challenging, it was still a stunning experience and I would do it all over again but with more preparation the next time around.

So what differences did I experience on this trail race from that of the typically paved race?

The most obvious difference was the environment itself. To my naivety, I thought that the differences would place a negligible effect on my run time. Big mistake. I was basically off by a half hour. There were so many factors that played a hand in slowing me down including the varying terrain, the topsy turvy path, slowing down to pass someone or to be passed, etc. This trail also involved climbing over one log and ducking under two. I slowed down at the turns and I hesitated at a couple of steep drops, also going down them at a slower pace. The trail environment took a lot of my focus away from pace was watching where to place my feet in avoiding branches, big rocks and poop (animal, of course). Even looking for the path markers took a little focus off too. There are a lot of markers to look for as it is very easy to accidentally run off a trail if one isn’t paying attention. Putting my cautions up, I ended up running at an extremely slow pace. I am also a pretty clumsy individual and I don’t lift my feet up very high when I walk or run so I think the shift in setting placed an especially significant effect on me. I took it very easy on the run and I also couldn’t help but slow down a few times to marvel at beautiful views and even stopped to take pictures of some amazing sights, including the ones in this post.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to spot any wild mammals but I got to see the giant dragonflies that I remember. They are very memorable as I got bit catching one last year… I’ll write about that another time. I recently learned that they are bred and then released to control the mosquito population. Cool, hm?

I’d say the environmental positives outweigh the negatives. People have their own preferences and I definitely know that forested environments are mine which is precisely the kind of trail this was. It was also a bonus for me that it was an evening run. There is something about running through the woods that makes running a more tranquil and meditative experience for me. The surrounding sounds are relaxing (doesn’t the sound of traffic just stress you out?) and I get to avoid all the typical interruptions of a sidewalk run. The air is nicer and running between trees kept me shaded and cool. Running in a forested environment also meant tripping on branches and rocks, getting scratched up, and getting bit by bugs but of course there are ways to work around most of these things such as wearing proper footwear, leggings, and applying bug repellant.

While this run had the mental effect of making me super cautious,  there was also a very physical effect as it was much rougher on the muscles. Although the organizers state that trail running shoes are not absolutely necessary, I felt extremely fortunate that I had proper trail running shoes because this run destroyed my calves which were continually trying to compensate for lack of traction, the never-ending turns that go every which way, the extremely steep ups and downs and any combination of those conditions at the same time. I  couldn’t imagine running with any less traction that I had. (Nor can I imagine running with mud; thank god it didn’t rain) My calves were definitely not used the sharp turns; I was throwing weight from one side to the other so quickly, just to do another sharp turn a few steps down. Likewise, my quads felt the pressure on the hills and from continually pull my legs higher up to avoid branches and larger rocks. Balance is also very much an aspect that is also particular to trail running. During a regular paved run, I wouldn’t think twice about balance but here, my ankles were often caught in so many different positions and I really have to gauge my speed when taking a turn to avoid smashing into a tree. Taking on the unexpected, I very much had to roll with the punches and twists of this race.

The shoes I used were Adidas Terrex Trailmaker GTX shoes and they served me well as I did not slip at all. (They’re on sale right now, go go go!)

Another big difference are the increased bottlenecks. Bottlenecks are part of almost ever race. Even by structuring wave groups, organizers can’t fully eradicate them, especially at the start of the run. But beside the start, bottlenecks have never been a problem for me and even though there are a lot of people to run along, it is pretty easy to weave through them (I find it pretty fun, actually). Bottlenecks , however, are definitely more of an issue during a trail race run. The path is only so wide so firstly, runners have to slowly funnel into the trail and secondly, weaving isn’t so much an option as everyone is basically running in single file. As a result, runners have an obligation to help each other pass so they can do their best.

I arrived late and started running when everyone had already begun so I personally did not have to deal with too many bottleneck issues. I had to pass a few people once I caught up but those were pretty easy to do especially when runners were so friendly about it. Many runners simply stopped before I even got close and many of them followed up with words of encouragement like “Good job!” I think it would be good to know so here’s the etiquette on passing and being passed: Passing will usually involve squeezing past someone but only when there is enough room to safety do so. It helps to give a verbal warning (e.g. “passing on your left!”) so the other runner can be aware and give a go-ahead.. This also means it helps to keep music at a lower volume to hear runners coming back from behind. If being passed, it does not mean one has to stop running (although you have the option to). It simply means avoiding from being an obstacle to other runners who are trying to pass usually by moving as close to the right side as possible. A additional cool tip from the organizers is to take advantage of the first few paved meters to speed ahead if you are a strong runner as it will mean less passing to do later. Conversely, it also means that overtaking too aggressively is a bad idea if you are not as strong of a runner.

There were some other minor differences, surprises and ramblings I’d like to make about this run, mostly insignificant notes so short path end here, for the long path, keep going.

I flew in at 11:30am and the race started at 6:45pm so it gave me a little bit of time to nap before my run but I guess I slept a little too long because I arrived late. More importantly, I was late because I did not account park size in my travel time. I didn’t realize just how vast Birds Hill Park was until I was actually within it. It took 15 minutes just to be driven from one side to the other. I guess I should have known better given it is a provincial park. As I stepped out of the taxi (it was a $60 cab ride; Winnipeg, pray for Uber), I watched everyone take off from the running line. It wasn’t much if a bother to me and I didn’t really mind running the race late. In fact, I think was a nice experience skipping out on starting line nerves, bottlenecks and to basically run solo until I caught up with some runners. The only real repercussion of arriving late is having an inaccurate time recorded online but that in itself isn’t much of a matter when I can easily record time on my own. Speaking of which, look how crazy my Strava map is:

As the race started at 6:45pm, I expected to be running in the dark but all through it and to the end, the sun was still up in the sky. I looked it up afterwards and apparently the sun doesn’t even start setting in the area until 9:30 at night. I heard that it gets darker quicker for the runs towards the end of summer and that the organizers encourage people to bring headlamps.

There was a small number of runners (last year they had around 80 runners in a race). It may be attributed to my social anxiety but it was extremely refreshing to run with fewer people around. The community seemed super close knit and everyone just seemed to know everyone else when gathering at the end of it. I think I must have been the only person who went to run alone.

The race took place at a provincial park and there was no way people would have it if runners threw plastic dipped paper cups all over the place after taking a sip of water. Additionally the organizers encouraged to reduce general race-waste so runners were expected to bring their own bottles for water stations along the run. Amazing stuff! I don’t like baggage (physical and emotional >wo) so I didn’t bring any along with me but they had plastic cups at the end so I could fortunately rehydrate myself. Mountain Dew had never tasted so good but it also meant that I didn’t sleep the same night because I forgot that Mountain Dew has substantial amount of caffeine and I’m caffeine sensitive. Did you know it’s double a Coke? What the hell?

Fortunately someone was kind enough to bring me back to the city so I didn’t have to take a taxi back the other way. We caught sight of the setting sun on the way and it was the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Got the shot but couldn’t capture the beauty.

Those are my simple notes  as a trail-running newbie. I hope they are helpful or, at the very least, interesting in one way or another. The best way to train for a trail run is definitely to train in trail settings to build muscle strength and simply to prepare for the environment and conditions themselves. I am looking forward to running different type of trail races such as alpine and coastal runs in the future.. My muscles will be recovering in the next couple of days and I think my tailbone took a hit so I’m waiting that out too… but hopefully I should be up and ready for a Winnipeg run on Monday!

 

About the race

My run was the first of three races of The Summer Trail Series, organized by Trail Run Manitoba. There was a choice between a shorter 6km path and a longer 10km path. The races are held on Thursday evenings and the idea behind their scheduling is to allow people to run in between their other summer adventures. This was the precisely why I was able to run it; usually my summer weekends are completely booked up. What an amazing idea — I love it! The runs are sold out for 2017 but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to get in; many people are trading and selling off their bibs on the Trail Run Manitoba Facebook page and that’s how I managed to join the run myself. More information on these races are here: www.summertrailseries.com