Target sighted

Yes, I already have an immediate target. And no, not that kind of target (friends of mine will get this). This much vaunted target of mine is the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon half marathon race. I have about 9 weeks to go before the big event. In the mean time, you, my dear readers will be bored to death by my occasional posts about my preparations for this race.

I will consider this post as the first about my road to KL. With 9 weeks to go, it is time to get serious. There's no point signing up and paying the fees and additional bus fare to be just a face in the crowded procession of humanity. At the very least I must run a respectable time (read: personal best by a loooooooooong margin). With that thought in mind, I stepped on the treadmill at the gym for my first workout. OK, I lied. It wasn't my first workout, in fact I have been in training for since the first day of the year, but the previous part was true.

Anyway, today's treadmill workout was new in someways. For the first time, I set my starting speed at 13.6 kph, with a progression of 0.1 kph every 800 metres or so (see, I said it was going to be boring). At least that was my projected target, though you can never account for any problems along the way, as controlled a running environment as the treadmill is. My initial fears were proven correct, partly. I felt some strain at the start, but upon closer analysis, I was surprised to find that my breathing wasn't that laboured, and I could reasonably expect to keep this pace up for a long time. Being a masochist though, I stuck to the gameplan.

Halfway through my run, something even more surprising than the relative effort needed happened. A quite attractive girl and her dad walked in to my no frills gym. Oh well, at least I have some eye candy to keep me distracted from any running discomfort and I might even get subconsciously motivated (does it even count as subconscious if I was thinking about it even then?). In the end, I hung on until 9.1kilos with a rapid increase in pace the last few hundred metres. Not a bad workout at all.

Having done the cardio part, I proceeded to do my usual gym workout with an added emphasis on the core. Nothing much to talk about here, since what I have written so far should be enough to KO all but the most insomniac.