Da Nang

Much needed non-Hong Kong or non-Singapore weekend away. The year has felt both long and short at the same time. It's already deep into October and there's that feeling that the year will be over within the blink of an eye. First time traveling to Da Nang as a couple and we ended up at Premier Village, a nice resort, although we ended up with a four bedroom villa (they closed off the three other rooms). Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend, although we were lucky to benefit from some patches of no rain. The trip was a classic Vietnam trip, grabs to restaurants, walks to massages, grabs back to the hotel, naps and just a whole lot of eating and relaxing. Despite being to Da Nang so many times, I've never tried the local dish of Mi Quang. Aside from that we fell back to the favourites, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Cha, Banh Xeo and even 4Ps pizza.

Forty Three

Gosh, I really feel old. It really feels like an eternity when I turned 40. Middle of covid, feeling like I had officially reached middle age status. Now, three years later, I feel middle aged both mentally, and physically. October growing up was always a fun month. There were always so many birthday celebrations. Aunties, uncles, cousins, mine included.

This year it's been a bit of an odd birthday. Minimal fanfare, no issues with that. Received some nice birthday messages, which I love. Although the idea of having "Happy Birthday" blasted in a group chat still feels awkward. This year, our corporate Bloomberg Square Mile, happened to fall on the 9th. We fielded a strong team which finished a competitive 11th. Annoyingly, I fell short of the sub-6 minute mark, again. 6:04, slowly getting there. 

Although, admittedly my mind was elsewhere. I have had a sore toorth a couple of days since returning from Singapore and today decided to see the dentist for further investigation. The consult resulted in me getting a temporary crown while we wait for further news. Nothing screams old age like the gentle deterioration of the body. Things, parts, bits that have been part of me for almost my whole life are now slowly starting to break down and require attention. It's an indirect way of age showing, time really is passing us by. 

Happy Birthday!

Singapore

October is upon us, which means, a slew of upcoming birthdays. Growing up October was a fun month, there were so many birthdays. It also means quite a few public holidays for us in Hong Kong. Feels a bit strange not being back in Sydney this year round, but managed to extend the long weekend and spend it in Singapore for the F1. This time of the year is always a lot of fun in Singapore, the energy of the city is second to none. This year, there's a bit of a quorum, the confluence of a crypto event with the F1 means that a lot of people are in town. Good catch ups and another year of not actually watching the F1 live. 

Sydney Marathon

I still get goosebumps thinking about the race. What an amazing experience and day! So grateful and appreciative of the family coming out for the support, as well as the support from all those random spectators. With any race, I had a series of targets. 1) Finish the race. 2) Do it  under 4 hours 3). Do it under 3h30mins. I ended up landing somewhere between 2 and 3.

What surprised me was that I didn't blow up and the amazing atmosphere of the crowds and the support. My carb load was on point, supplemented by some delicious rice crispies (thanks kids!). If I could change one thing it would be to fly in a day earlier, my sleep is so sensitive to any disturbance that I couldn't for the life of me string together a decent night's sleep. The day before I was trying to conserve energy, and the plan was to pop by the expo, grab my bib and even a running belt and then retire to my parents sofa. 

I woke up at 5 am on Sunday and headed down to consume the standard bagel and Maurten's drink mix, and one LMNT electrolytes packet, and I was off to Sydenham to catch the metro over to Crow's Nest/Victoria Cross station. The metro is packed, runners everywhere. The excitement builds. Of course I'm running late, the lines to the toilets are long and I make it to my chute only to miss all the pacers. In any case the conditions are perfect, the temperature at the start line is somewhere between 8-10 degrees. 

I started off a bit slower than expected, there were a few niggles and it took me a few ks to get into rhythm. By then I was a fair bit off my pace so decided that I would just enjoy the race. At the 25 km mark I was feeling good, pace was on point and was starting to settle into the race, high-fiving the spectators, and just soaking in the absolutely amazing atmosphere. At the 35 km mark I was expecting the dreaded bonk, but it never came. 10 gels, 2 crampfixes. Cruised over the line in 3hours and 38 minutes. All that painful training through the Hong Kong summer paid off. Super happy! 

Highlights include running over the Sydney Harbour Bridge just after sunset, running through King's Cross, seeing the girlfriend multiple times along the route. Seeing support from Ket and Heng out near Anzac parade, and then see the family at the finish line! The definition of a runner's high. I'm hooked! When's the next one?

The long run

Finally clicked over the 30 km mark. Prior to signing up for this event the furthest I'd ever run was 21 km. It's all relative where 20 km feels like a non-event. Roughly 2 hours (for me), but with this week's run of 34 kms, it took me just under 4 hours. That's a long time to be out running. Aside from actually running that long, the other challenge is finding long enough routes.

Have found some decent routes in excess of 30 kms in Sydney, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The challenge with Singapore and Hong Kong is that during this time of the year, it gets hot, quick. So even starting at 6 am, but the time you've wrapped up it's almost 10 am and it's warm. 

Final block

The final block. Maxing out at 34 kms, although I cheekily jammed in a 35km. Annoyingly, headphones died 1 hour in, so was just running out with no entertainment.

Probably a bit too much travel, but managed to bang out 34 km in Singapore at McRitchie.

Found a nice sports ground in Siu Sai Wan.

It's a real test. There is an element of boredom that kicks in and excitement, but mostly boredom. The nice thing is that most of these runs are are gentle 'conversational' pace. The challenging thing is that it's the middle of summer in Hong Kong and chaffing and wet shoes are almost mandatory. The other challenging thing is finding a route that is long enough. So far I know from North Point to Shau Kei Wan, is approximately 3.8 kms to the Museum of the War of Resistance, just under 8 kms return. North Point promenade, through to Sun Yat Sen is around 8 kms, or 16 kms return. Continuing through to Kennedy Town, the end of the Praya is around 12 kms. There's a nice loop up Mount Davis down through Caine along through to Bowen down to Victoria Park which is around 30 km. or 34 km, around the South Side, to South Bay back to Ocean Park. There's times I wish there were other people I could run with.

 

The pain cave

It's funny, when I signed the lease to this apartment, the main draw cards were the modern facilities. Namely the pool and sauna. As it would turn out, the facility that I've utilised the most and probably the most fortunate to have access to is the gym. Specifically the treadmills, which throughout the Hong Kong summer has been nothing short of a saviour when it comes to getting mileage in through typhoons, and blistering summer days. Conditions aside, it's also been invaluable for dialling into those speed sessions. Think intervals, tempos, all in a controlled environment. No dodging cars, waiting for lights, or dealing with uneven surfaces.

This is a sneak peak into my pre-work sessions. Down into the gym before sunrise. There's always one other regular I see at that hour. A lady who's on the stair master. I have a favourite treadmill, 1st from the right. It's a Life Fitness. There's four things I always bring down. 1) Music, my earphones. 2). Water bottle, in the right cup holder 3). Portable fan,  on the left handle 4) Hand towel, in the left cup holder. It's a familiar sight. Sometimes I'll have a gel. After the session the area is always splattered in perspiration. Gross. My easy pace is somewhere between speed 9.0 (or 6:40 min/km), or 9.5 (6:20 min/km), always with an incline of 1.0%.

I think I've watched all of the running videos. I like the ones through cities and in national parks. Sometimes I wonder what it be like to actually run these routes in real life instead of virtually. Maybe that could be my next goal?