The Haze continues...

It was pretty hazy on Monday morning, but it somehow abated to about 50+ PSI levels in the evening. I took the opportunity to do a quickie around my estate of about 11km. It was nice to get the run in, and I didn't notice too many runners out on the road.

It was a hazy Tuesday evening. I had to miss my training run anyway, as I had to attend the K2 Base Camp Challenge briefing at Costa Sands, Pasir Ris. I arrived to a sumptious buffet spread, with local favourites like mee siam, tahu goreng, fried chicken wings, sotong balls, and lots of dessert. A 21-person team was assembled to begin training for the 3-4week expedition to the K2 mountain range via Pakistan in July 2007. Hamidah led a brief of the Program, with each of us giving a personal introduction. Team trainings on Sunday mornings will begin in November, with Lingam leading as the Expedition Leader. The team comprised of many experienced adventure racers and mountain trekkers. I am really a newbie when it comes to mountain trekking, and experiences of AMS and stuff. Phei Sunn, Yulan, Roland, Rodney were some of the familiar faces I knew there. The briefing ended early with a surprise Birthday celebration for one of the team members, and I had a piece of chocolate cake...yummy!

The haze on Wednesday was in the 60s. Still, a large group of about 20+ made it for the adiRUN at Suntec City. We ran about 11km+, from Marina Promenade, up along the Nicholl Highway Bridge, and then crossing over to the Indoor Stadium area. It was a nice sight in the night, as we all enjoyed the much needed run. The PSI must have been below 50 where we ran. Although there were runners of varying speeds, a small team of us managed to run up and down to keep the group together, and ensure that no one got lost. Everyone enjoyed the run, and we had a nice 15min yoga stretch led by Jancy. Next week will be Stacy's turn to lead the stretch...hmm, seems like the warm-dowm stretch routines are turning out to be one of the highlights of the adiRUN...hee. As usual, a bottle of Gatorade, bananas for refuel after the run.

The skies were clear by Thursday evening...PSI in the 30s only...hooray. Went down to SAFRA MF to do a short run with MF guys. A small incident happened on the way, but thanks to my quick defensive reaction, I was able to avoid a reckless driver...Phew! Met Henry and Hee Shen who were doing their hills training. Shortly after the large group of MF Runners started, the skies opened and poured heavily...sh*ts, what a time...no haze, but rain. We were soaked through and through, and my new Forrester Tri was put to the test...must say it passed with flying colours (no pun intended...hehe). Some of the gals took shelter in the nearby bus-stop. I ran a bit faster to work up some warmth, and when the group went up to MF Hill via the steeper Telok Blangah side, I gave it a miss. I continued on to finish the first 5km loop at the ClubHouse, and went on for the second. By then, the rain had stopped. I saw Phei Sunn at the bus-stop, and she told me to catch up with Rosalind and Shirley who were not familiar with the route. Again, I increased pace slightly...caught up with the 2 gals near Harbourfront, and then saw David, Ironman Chua and Sok Hwa. Together we ran back to ClubHouse and had nice chats along the way. A wet but interesting 10km run for me...:)

It was clear skies when I did the NIE Director's Relay on Friday night through to Saturday morning. The weather was great, the support was good, the company and teamwork was superb...I had a nice 36km run with forced rests in between :).