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Friday, 29 June 2012

Positivity Friday Revisited

It has been a while since the last Positivity Friday post. Inconsistency is a good thing,it makes things unpredictable and interesting don't you think?

Here are some of my picks for this week: some positive quotes, funny pics and photos of really toned bodies that makes you want to drop that cookie you are eating in front of the tv now!
Enjoy !!



































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Thursday, 28 June 2012

Kingsland Cooking Club Wild Venison Mole

It's been a really busy few weeks for me and I have not been able to keep up with my blogging as much as I would like to. So much going on for me at work and also new personal 'projects'. One thing that I did not neglect is cooking and eating well. I've got my priorities right. Last week, I came to know about the Kingsland Cooking Club. It's a pretty awesome concept; you show up on Thursday night and pay $15 for the cost of ingredients and get your hands dirty to prepare the dishes for the night and later enjoy it with other fellow foodies. Every week, you will be cooking different dishes and everyone gets to share the tasks and enjoy the fruits of the labour with a good chatter. What a great way and economical way of spending Thursday night.We have been told that the club has been around since 4 years. It was started as an initiative to bring the community together and arm youth with cooking skills.What a brilliant idea!


Our chef, Ben announce that wild venison is on menu tonight. One the organisers had hunted a venison on the weekend and we are going to cook it with Mexican Mole sauce. The sauce is labourious with lots of chilli peeling, nut-toasting, blending and cooking. The ingredient list is lengthy and I can only remember there were sesame seeds, lots of dried mexican chillis, dark chocolate bars and bananas.There were 21 of us and each of us had to peel,chop, roast, blend and taste the food as we get on with the work. It took about 1 hour to prepare the sauce while the venison was roasted in the oven.


Sorry that I forgotten to take the photo of the very important Mole sauce because it was so yummy and can't wait to lick it off my plate.The venison meat was just perfect, a little pink so moist and flavourful. We washed all that food down with grilled banana with dulce leche and toasted coconut...heavens!


I will definitely be back to the Kingsland Club for more yummy food in the next few weeks. There's lots of good cooking demonstrations and good company..what's not to like?




Have you been to a Cooking Club before?

Have you eaten venison before? If yes,did you like it?


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Tuesday, 12 June 2012

A very muddy run and nasty bleeding of Lululemon Paris Pink

Workout - Tempo run for 9.5km on mostly soggy ground after a butt-killing pilates class at my
local Lululemon. Overall temperature was great except that the route that I usually run was all muddy from the heavy rain last night and hasn't dried up. There were lots of fallen trees and branches so we had to modify the usual route.This is my second run in the week when I cannot get my pace and distance data because Runmeter and Runkeeper has bolted. Arrghhh!!


I had a nasty surprise when I went to shower after my sweaty run. For a brief moment I thought I was bleeding on my back but then I realise that my Lululemon Free To Be bra in Paris Pink was bleeding onto my shirt from the sweat. You can see the double criss-cross pink marking on the shirt.  No photos of the bra because I don't think posting the photo of my bra onto the internet is quite right. For a split second I thought I was bleeding because it looked like blood.This is so disappointing because it has ruined my favourite running shirt. Luckily when I rang the Lululemon store, the staff told me that I can bring my bra in and get it exchanged. She also told me to try washing my t-shirt with Napisan and if it's still stained I can get a replacement from the store. I was quite relieved to hear that they would do that. No reason to stop shopping at LL.

Just sharing with you all a snapshot of my running route. It's really nice for summer runs and also when it rains to shield away the water but can get very dark and slippery. Looks like a great place for the Blairwitch Project but thankfully it's very popular amongst runners. I wouldn't try running here at night when it's pitch black.


Moving on from the little nasty surprise from LL, I'm still keen to get my hands on the new CRB in Ray. I'm not usually a big fan of neons but Ray is a nice bright green but not really neon.




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Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Cheap and cheerful lunch at Herbal Legend Dominion Road


How to eat well with a student budget? Go to Dominion Road and find a hole in the wall eateries that lines this famous stretch and you will not be disappointed. Not I am a student any more although my bank account may suggest that I am still one. We love coming to Dominion Road when we are looking for a quick and delicious meal rather than having a sandwich or simple salad at home on a lazy Sunday afternoon. On this particular Sunday, we came back to Herbal Legend. One of the cheapest place to eat in Auckland Central. The name is weird but don't let that put you off from coming here. They have a very good selection of rice and noodles selections where you can choose your own topping. It's a bit of a pick and mix.

Shanghainese Xiao Long Baos
 We love Xiao Long Baos- steamed pork dumplings with broth. You have to be very careful when you eat this dish. I have burned my tongue in the past. You have to wait a minute or two until it cools down a little before biting into the dumpling as the broth will be oozing out as you sink your teeth into them. Heavenly!!


Squid salad. It's non oily and refreshing.

Chilli chicken topping for my noodles.
Our total bill was less than $30 and we were so stuffed that we had to skip dinner. Which makes this lunch trip even cheaper because it's more like $30 for lunch and dinner. Not entirely sure if I could cook all these food at home any better or cheaper. I am aware that there some negative reviews about this place in the past but it looks like it has been revamped under the new management and it's a pretty good place to come to. Just don't expect a good wine list and great atmosphere at any Chinese restaurants that you come out paying less than $50 a head.

Herbal Legend
305 Dominion Road
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Friday, 1 June 2012

Positivity Friday: 10 things to remind yourself on a daily basis

My Friday usually starts with a 7am circuit training and today was a tough 45 minutes session. Not physically tough but there were 14 stations and it got confusing for my half asleep mind to cope with. Finishing an early morning workout is the best feeling because I feel I have done what's great for me and I have the whole day to undo the goodness I have done and get it undone tomorrow. Friday is my favourite day of blogging because it's the routine Positivity Friday post where I can share my great finds of inspiring words, tips or articles that are funny,positive and sometimes things
 that only I will find funny.


I found a 'lift-me-up' article here and thought it would be really great to share. I will print the list out and stick it in the bathroom to read every morning.


1. Do not lose sight of what truly matters. 

2. It is okay to be alone or pull back from the world. 

3. You are not always in control. 

4. What other people think is irrelevant. 

5. Don’t give up. 

6. You don’t have to know all the answers. 

7. You are enough. All of us have had times in our lives where we have thought, “I’m not smart enough or pretty enough or strong enough or exciting enough to do _____.” Give yourself a chance instead of forming limiting beliefs.

8. Stay present. Try not to dwell on the past or worry about the future. Take everything one day at a time.

9. Your feelings will not kill you. I know that heartbreak, grief, depression, or resentment might make you feel like you’re dead and breathing, but you have the strength to get through whatever life throws at you. Hold on and see yourself through it.

10. You are human. This is probably the biggest reminder of them all. You will make mistakes. You will hurt other people and other people will hurt you. You won’t always feel happy and positive. Next time you feel the urge to beat yourself up over any of these things, remind yourself that you are an imperfect human being instead.


Ohh Ryan Gosling !
Source











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Thursday, 31 May 2012

Giant cupcake to refuel your run & FIRST training


Every now and then you know that you need a little treat for the hard work and also to refuel your next run. A giant cupcake may be appropriate in my case. I received this as a gift and I was gobsmacked how huge it was. I placed the iPhone next to the cupcake to give you an idea how big it was. The cupcake has set a whole new meaning to carbo loading. It was delicious and so difficult not to overeat. Took hubs and me almost a week to finish it and I think will be at least a month to burn off the calories. 

I have done 2 runs this week as an 'induction' course to the 3+2 FIRST Half Marathon training program that I will start next week. This is the training program from the book Run Less Run Fast .
I am following the first week of the program and it's hard work. Basically you do 3 key runs a week and supplement it with 2 cross-trainings a week. The concept may not be easily acceptable for people who has followed high mileage training because many are unconvinced that this style of training will work for them. Pacing is an important component in the FIRST training program. All the paces are based on ones best 10k race pace. It has been proven that training intensity is the most important factor for improving the physiological processes and determine race performance. Each run should have at least a day of recovery in between. The non-running days should be supplemented by at least 2 cross-training sessions.After Key Run #1, my legs were fatigued but I didn't feel as if lungs are burning and I need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank. It's pretty tough but just enough to push you hard but not into total exhaustion. Good sign. Today was Key Run #2, I am quite exhausted to be honest because I think I have over-exerted myself when I went running with the boys at work. It almost turn out to be a race..Grrr!! I need to remember that I have to let them run at their pace and I should just do my own thing.

To give you an idea what the training looks like, here is a snapshot from the book and the training program. As mentioned in the previous post, I will update blog about how I feel about this program a few weeks into the training. It's a total of 16 weeks and I will have about 20 weeks until Adidas Auckland Half Marathon so I should have enough time to finish the training.


And here is another snapshot of the 16 week training program.




After looking at the program, don't you think I need another cupcake ?


Have you tried FIRST training program before?

Are you following a training program for your next race?

What is the biggest piece of dessert you've ever had?


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Friday, 25 May 2012

Positivity Friday with Run Less Run Faster

Workout - 45 mins speedwork on the treadmill and 15 mins core work

The temperature has plunged over the last week and all of a sudden it feels like mid winter. Typical Auckland weather, it's a real mixed bag. After a gruelling session at the gym with lots of composite leg press and leg curls, my legs are feeling like jello for running. To my surprise, I was able to hang on without emptying my tank which was really good. Although I didn't have the best week of running, I have been rewarded with some pleasant surprises with my performance and I'm going to take. What made my day was receiving my copy of Run Less Run Faster in the mail after waiting for ages. I've tried looking for this version in NZ but they unavailable. It's so difficult to buy non-fiction books in book stores these days. Anyway, this version has the additional Boston Training Programs on it. One day it will be handy for me. I will be training for Boston Marathon and have my finishing time tattooed on my arm. A girl can dream eh?


According to Amazon, this version has 50 percent updated content and has just been published in April . I had a quick browse through and the first chapter talks about Running With A Purpose. Each training run has its purpose, there will be 3 runs (speedwork, tempo and long run) + 2 cross-training sessions a week to follow. The writing is easy to understand without getting too technical and the plans are easy to follow. I like that this program requires only 3 running sessions a week and each session has its purpose and you are not wasting time by doing unnecessary mileage which tires you out and the best bit is the 2 cross-training sessions that allows variety and makes training more fun. As much as I enjoy running, I would still like to do other activities like cycling on a stationary bike, circuit-training and yoga so this program is perfect for me. I will try to read up and start following it next week and will report back in a few weeks time.

I am really looking forward to a great Sunday run followed by a trip to Lululemon to "reward" my










efforts. I hope that the weather is going to be kind to me too.
As with all my other Positivity Friday posts, I'm going to share some goody I found this week.


































What are your running plans this weekend?

Have you read any running / training related books that help you reach your PB?


                              What is most positive thing that has happened to you this week?







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Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Foam rolling, yoga and Indian vegetarian lunch at Ras Vatika


My training last week was  taken down by a notch last week after catching a cold when I was out for my weekly lunch run with my colleagues. It was only a 8.5km run but 8.5km in cold rain wearing only a tiny t-shirt is definitely asking for trouble. Which is what I got. Bingo! I've to skip my cross-training and Sunday long run and spent the weekend nursing my cold at home. Although I felt a little guilty but my experience had taught me that being stubborn is not going to help. Just accept defeat, eat and rest like a queen. I did very well there. 

We went to Ras Vatika for vegetarian lunch as I had a craving for light indian food and since I've been curious about this place, it was  the perfect destination. We were relieved not to find a big hungry crowd on a Saturday afternoon when we arrive. After staring at the menu like we were choosing a name for our first born, we settled for a Puri dish with vegetables, rice pillaf and pink falluda with cardamom and pistachios. I really enjoyed the food here but I think it's not as light as I'd like to. It would be nice if they had more salad options but that's just my personal preference. It's still a very good place to get your carbo fix without the extra saturated fat.

I love their special falluda drink : rose syrup with milk, cardamom and pistachios..yumz




Fried puri bread with salads and chickpeas



Since I have a few days of resting indoor, I opt to spend some quality time with my BFF the foam roller to ease the knots on my calves. I also have a hand-held massager when the knots become too tight in my calves for the foam roller to take on.It's my saviour. In the last couple of months since I have ramped up my running frequency, I do notice the niggling pain in my knees are subsiding except for the occasional fatigue knees and hamstrings from hilly runs. I think this has got to do with ditching the orthotics and switching to Saucony Fastwitch 5 from my first love the Mizuno Nexus 5. I love the Fastwitch 5 and it's been really kind to me. I am considering buying a second pair but also want to try out the new Kinvara 3 that is coming out in June.


Getting my weekly Ohmm at Lululemon. I'm still trying my best to plank like a pro but you can see that I look like a collapsing plank there. Need to work harder on my balancing and core strength. I've been bitten by the yoga bug and can't stop promoting its benefits to my husband and people at work. I am trying to rope in as many people to go to Lululemon for the complimentary yoga sessions. My husband is next.







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Friday, 18 May 2012

Positivity Friday :Why every athlete should do yoga

This week has been insanely busy for me and didn't leave me with too much spare time to blog.
Anyway, I love doing my Positivity Friday posts to share some positive energy that I have gathered this week. First of all, I'm finally on Twitter now!! It's a huge step for me because I have never  understood how Twitter works and I still don't but I'll learn. Come and say hello !

Aside from the workload that has been keeping me from blogging as much as I'd would like to, the week has been a real treat with lots of great presents from friends and family for my birthday and not to mention I have been eating non-stop. I will blog about that later. The one thing that kept my sanity intact when everything become crazy is getting my Ohmm hour doing yoga or go out for a quick run. Always feel so good. Of late, I have managed to convince my significant other to try out yoga too and if you still need convincing because you think you are too inflexible, I have found this article that will hopefully convince you a little bit more.

I found this great article on MindBodyGreen.com, written by Rich Roll. Rich is a two-time top finisher at the Ultraman World Championships and in 2010 was the first person (along with colleague Jason Lester) to complete EPIC5 – 5 ironman-distance triathlons on 5 Hawaiian Islands in under a week.


In my opinion, EVERY athlete – irrespective of sport or discipline – has the potential to enhance his or her ability by adopting a consistent yoga practice. I’d go so far as to say that if you’re not practicing yoga, you’re competing at a disadvantage and missing an opportunity to enhance peak performance.

Here are a few benefits I have reaped:

1. Improved Strength: Routine and consistent practice of the various yoga asanas (poses or postures) has helped me build strength and improve lean muscle mass. Most notably with respect to several muscle groups under-utilized in my chosen athletic disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. These gains have enhanced core body stability and significantly impeded overuse injury by strengthening the supportive but otherwise under-developed muscles surrounding the more utilized muscles, creating a more balanced and optimally functional overall strength.
2. Balance: As a swimmer, I have always been rather flexible. But my balance is historically horrible. But through a consistent yoga practice, my coordination and balance have improved immensely. Why is this important? Better balance and coordination means enhanced control over how I move my body, which in turn leads to better technique and form -- the brass ring every athlete spends a career refining, whether your focus is a swim stroke, golf swing, running stride, jump shot or wrestling move.
3. Flexibility: Yoga invariably improves joint and muscular flexibility, which is crucial to the body’s overall structural soundness.  Enhanced joint and muscle pliancy translates to greater range of motion, or an increase in the performance latitude for a particular movement or series of movements.  For example, a swimmer with supple shoulder and hip joints is able to capture and pull more water than a swimmer with a more limited range of motion. The result is more forward movement per stroke as well as enhanced muscular economy. In turn, this increased range of motion provides a greater ability to strength condition a particular muscle group due to the amelioration in overall force that can be exerted with each movement. And although there is some dispute about the advisability of “over” stretching (for runners in particular), I remain a huge advocate, finding that the more I work to maintain my flexibility (something that wanes with age), the less likely I am to suffer an overuse injury.
4. Mental Control: The physical benefits of yoga for the athlete are huge. But they’re nothing in comparison to the more ephemeral benefits. Most people, particularly athletes, tend to think of yoga as a great “workout” – a means to tighten the core, flatten the stomach and tone that butt. Sure, it does that. But as soon as the rigorous portion of the class comes to a close and it’s time for savasana (corpse pose), otherwise known as the meditative portion of the session where the student lies down on his or her back for a period of quiet meditation, I watch people flee for the door, ducking out early under the false belief that this most important asana is optional and unnecessary – the hard work is done. Not only are these people wrong, they’re missing the point of yoga entirely. Because savasana is wherethe magic happens. Deprive yourself of this experience and you are missing out on the best and most beneficial part of the practice. From a traditionalist point of view, the series of physically challenging yoga asanas were originally designed for a specific purpose that has nothing to do with the strength or flexibility. Instead, they were conceived and organized solely as a means to prepare the mind and bodyto reap maximum benefit from the important meditation that follows, which, taken as a whole, is a routine designed not to give you a nice butt, but to improve your ability to quell, quiet and control the impulses of the mind -- to clean mental house, center focus and promote serenity by silencing the endless and seemingly unmanageable mental chatter that invades our daily experience and undermines the expression of our “best self” within.
You can read the full article here

If you need some inspiration for your next yoga practice at home you can refer to this great guide:


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Monday, 14 May 2012

Little Fatty Dumplings New North Road


The art to great eating finds in Auckland is just go with your gut feeling but sometimes you need more than just gut feeling. Little Fatty aka Tasty Takeaway is one of those places where a little sense of adventure is needed as well. This hole in the wall eatery looks a little dingy from the outside and does not get any better when you get in but it's nothing to worry. These are usually the places that gives me a surprise that I wasn't expecting.


This place is run by a small family and we ordered a serving of their famous Sang Chian Bao as it seems everyone in there had this item on their table. Four dumplings for only $4, what a steal. We had some rice dishes and they were just average and didn't look great on photo so I'll just leave that out. They only accept cash here but there is a National Bank next door so it's not a big deal.



Little Fatty Takeaway
598 Great North Road
Auckland.
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Friday, 11 May 2012

Positivity Friday : Facing your fears through running


"Perhaps the biggest fear for many of us is a fear of failure.But if we never try, how will we know the outcome?  So many people worry about what will happen if they fail, that they lose sight of what could happen if they succeed....People who achieve their dreams are people who are not afraid to take risks.  And we will never know what we could have accomplished if we never put ourselves to the test" -  an excerpt from a blog post by American Idol finalist Scott MacIntyre that I read here

If 5 years ago (when I was a chain smoker) someone would tell me that I will one day be dedicating a substantial chunk of my life being active and preaching about it on a blog, I would just laugh it off. Lo and behold, I am doing exactly that and enjoying every bit of it. When I finish my first run of only a mere 3km I felt elated because I never could have imagined my weak legs were capable of doing that.When I ran home from work for the very first time, I was in awe that my body can be my mode of transport. To push past the fear that you can't do it to actually achieving it is a moment of extreme joy and feel of redemption.Redeeming the ability that body has given you to do things you never thought you could.

 Running has not only made me fitter, it made me face my fears head-on, making new friends, get to know myself and until recently taught me a lot about social media and editing html which I have completely forgotten since after University years.I would also like to share a little piece of treasure I found on the internet recently and it has been a mental boost for me when I do speedwork and overall running. At the same time, the article of Bruce Lee below also made me realise how often I fear of failure and let it set a limit on what I could possibly achieve. I will work hard to overcome my fear and not my mind set the limits on my body.






I have times when my mind tells me that I cannot do this or that, followed by fear of not achieving what I've set out to achieve or even hurting myself if I push too hard. It's all a very complicated situation when I can't be sure of whether it's my mind or my body not wanting to push harder. I am still working through it and in the future, I'd try to have a moment of  'What would Bruce Lee do in this situation? ' .

As with all my previous Positivity Friday posts, I'd like to share some inspirational/ funny finds with all my readers and here are my picks for the week:






 










Have you taken the leap of faith?

What is your biggest fear?


How are you going to enjoy your weekend?




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Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Burpees: A Love Story





We don't like to talk about this but have to talk about this: burpees.The hair on neck stands up each time it hears the word 'burpees'. I can't recall how many times I have vomited from doing burpees. They are such horrible beasts no matter how often I do them it still make my stomach churn when I know it's part of my training.I don't know about you but I feel my heart lunging out, sore shoulders and legs, throwing up in the mouth etc when I do them. Every time when I finish my sets of burpees I am left wondering if all my internal organs had ruptured. If burpees would have a Facebook page, it will not have any friends or likes.

I think my best record to date is 5x20 burpees in one session. I can handle them better now than I used to but they still make me shiver unless you are Jillian Michaels who can do them with such grace and have a smile on your face.
















There just too many benefits of doing the burpees to omit it from your training plan. It's a good overall body training, increases your heart rate, improve  anaerobic conditions and coordination and above all you can do it anytime and anywhere.

Burpees and me has become friends recently as I promise to visit him every now and then. However, there are a few other frenemies I have at the gym/ in training. They are :

1. Shuttle runs


  Have you tried doing these with a sandbag? Oh my, it makes burpees look like a whimp!
  The  constant stopping and sprinting really makes me want to vomit.


2. My worst fear : Jacobs ladder


This the one machine I hate most in the gym and at any time of the day, you can't find another person using it. Those who do, are usually newbies are barely massaging the machine. If you go on one of these devils and try to achieve 200ft in 2-3 minutes you are not going to eat dinner,or anything.

Having whinged about all the above, I have to admit I have a love-hate relationship with them because I know how fantastic they are in increasing my overall fitness especially burpees.



Do you hate burpees?

How often do you do burpees?

What other moves that you hate but know it's darn good for your fitness?


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Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Sunday running and lunch at Britomart Country Club



It was incredibly difficult to crawl out of bed and I only manage it, barely, after 5 attempts. But I am so damn glad I did because I felt insanely happy whilst running up the hill. Which is rather unusual for me because I always curse when I see hills.My current plan is to do tempo runs on a treadmill on Tuesdays, threshold on Thursdays with my colleagues and long runs on Sundays and complement that with 2 circuit training and 1 yoga class. Long  easy runs are my favourite as I can listen and hum my favourite tunes whilst and not get hung up on my overall pace.


Running on Sunday mornings are superb because there aren't many people out and about even at 10 a.m and it feels like I have the whole park to for myself to run in. I was surprised that the shin splint that has been bugging me since my tempo run has fizzled away but I played safe and ran only 10km instead of 14km as I'd wanted to. No point to upset my legs this early and then throw my running plan into a complete whack. I have no planned events until possibly August so I will have plenty of time to fine-tune what works for me and what doesn't. I should look for a few 10k races between now until a half marathon. 




I never fail to treat myself after the enormous effort to force myself out of bed on Sunday mornings. Some days will be a shopping trip at Lululemon but I have forbidden myself to go there until I have done a 16km run. Lets see how disciplined I can be. We went to Britomart Country Club for lunch with my Grabone voucher which is expiring soon. The service is pretty reasonable and our waiter apologise profusely because our drinks took so long. I had fish with risotto cake which was very flavourful but salad was in a puddle of oil. I didn't finish the salad. Hubs ordered lamb salad which was very average. We both concluded that we may come back for lunch when it gets warmer because it's got a nice sitting area but won't drive to town just to eat there. There are just too manygood options in Auckland to choose from.

Moving on from lunch, I started looking for some running materials online to keep me motivated and get more bang out of my training . Last year I was convinced to buy Jack Daniels' Running Formula after reading all the great reviews but I have to honestly say that the book is too scientific for my liking and I never got very far. I think it's a very informative book but I am just not there yet so I hope one day I will have a use for it. I really want to run a full marathon in the near future and I have promised myself once I crack the sub 2 hours mark for a half marathon I will honour that promise. My job now is to achieve a sub 2. I am hoping that I can achieve 2:09 in the next half marathon with more consistent training. I just want to be realistic at this point. If I were to set my goals too high I might be hugely disappointed and throw in the towel altogether. Back to reading materials, I have decided on these two:


I am an avid follower of HRG's blog and she'd shared some very valuable information from Runner's Body and I am very interested to understand the physiology of running and take the guess work out of why my body reacts a certain way.



 The other is Run Less Run Faster based on the formula developed by Furman Institute. I like the fact that this book advocates running 3 quality runs and complement it with 2 sessions of cross training. This fits really well into the amount of time I can allocate for running whilst keeping things interesting for me. I love running but I also enjoy other activities like weight training, cross-training and yoga to keep things fun for me.

What is your favourite running book?

What training plan are you following at the moment?

Do you have any good running books / running plan to recommend?


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