William Chong

One of the more frequent questions I get asked when I tell them I’ve been training for a half-marathon is:

“How much weight have you lost?”

To be honest, I haven’t lost more than 2 or 3kg in body mass for all the months of ugly-running bluster. My waistline has remained marginally unflattering largely because of my diet; I’ve pretty much increased my food intake to match my running. Post-exercise nutrition is usually something like a banana, or a muesli bar. That’s in addition to water during short runs, Powerade for longer ones (>60 minutes) – and I always succumb to large meal portions after everything else!

Another reason I haven’t made the transition from soft-toy belly to the 6-pack of envy is that I’ve largely ignored strength and core training. I think I did it for a few sessions earlier on… but trying to fit that into my schedule – in addition to all the running – would have been a little crazy and unmanageable.

And besides, no one said you had to be perfectly chiselled to hit the streets.

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Hope everyone’s having a good long weekend – if you’re reading this you should be out and about enjoying your holiday! Go forth!

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I had a heartfelt conversation with one of my running buddies last night.

He talks about finding meaning in life, and seeking out challenges. He laments about being caught in between two worlds. His conscience tells him that he doesn’t belong, doesn’t fit the drinking, partying lifestyle of the twenty-something youth. Yet conversely, he doesn’t have the faith and certainty exhibited in a church setting, exhibited by Christians around him worshipping the God they believe in. “I know I don’t belong”, he says.

His words seemed to guard a subtle tinge of what I guessed to be disillusionment. This is a friend who is still looking for meaning and purpose in life.

On training and running this marathon, there have been a few moments where I too, have been made to think.

Moments where you consider what our toil and trouble in this world is for.

Moments where you consider the strange fact that once this earthly race is run, the recognition, the treasures, the wreath, the crowns you gain in the here and now aren’t transferrable. In fact, the Bible uses the term perishable to describe the the accolades we get:

“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown…” – 1 Cor 9:25

Mm.

My hope is that I run the race not for my own sake.

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Thanks Jared and Kristy! The finish line is in sight, check it out at my HeartRacer page: I’m still training as often as I can!

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Week 10: Training Record

13.10.08 – Route – 39 min – 5:45pm – 6.98 km Run with short sprints
14.10.08 – Route – 31 min – 6:20pm – 5.34 km Run
16.10.08 – Route – 51 min – 5:34am – 8.62 km Run
18.10.08 – Route – 50 min – 3:48pm – 8.54 km Run with short sprints

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Hi everyone – just thought I’d type this out while being stuck in heavy Auckland traffic.

Today I’ve been flirting with the possibility of upping the ante on my half-marathon attempt, and perhaps going the full 42 km instead. It’s apparently not too late to switch, and all of those donations would then be worth twice as many kilometers! Of course, it could end up being a disaster if my body suddenly finds itself unable to cope with the extra burden, and I fail to complete the race before nightfall!

One of the more frequent questions I get asked when I tell them I’ve been training for a half-marathon is: “How much weight have you lost?”

To be honest, I haven’t lost any weight for all the months of ugly-running bluster. I think that my waistline has remained marginally unflattering largely because of my diet; I’ve pretty much increased my food intake to match my running. Post-exercise nutrition is usually something like a banana, or a muesli bar. That’s in addition to regular Powerade and water during runs, and large meal portions after everything else!

All the serious runners will be using their own specially-formulated drinks and crazy hi-energy gel foods and camel packs. That’s crazy stuff…

In the weekend I was fortunate enough to celebrate Kim’s birthday with not one, but two birthday meals. We went to Daikoku Restaurant in Botany for lunch and enjoyed a couple of well-presented and tasty lunch-box sets. The waitresses wore kimonos and fashioned the latest Japanese-style footwear craze – the er… socks and sandals combination.

After a big lunch, we drove home. And I proceeded to get my running gear on and run back there.

And back again.

That’s about a distance of 17 km all up.

So with the help of Jesus Christ, Steve Jobs, Peter Somervell, Mark Driscoll, Jamie Cullum, Parachute Band, Bob Kauflin, I survived my longest training session yet: a run of 1 hour and 40 minutes (the list is not meant to be in any order of importance: Steve Jobs =/= divine dude).

You know that you’ve run very far when your stopwatch kindly reminds you that it’s the “halfway point” and you’re three suburbs away -�it’s times like this you start to appreciate the invention of the automobile. I guess back when people didn’t have cars, to get from Bucklands Beach to Botany would most likely have required a day trip.

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Even more fun was training today – a much shorter timespan of 40 minutes, but made interesting by the �interspersed 30-second mad sprints (yes, that would have been me doing random sprints along the Eastern Beach parade). Oh that was fun.

It’s funny how much effort it takes to get out the door and put your running shoes on… but once you’re out there and you’re at a comfortable pace, you almost don’t want to stop.

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Week 9: Training Record

8.10.08 – Route – 45 min – 8:01am – 7.98 km Pre-interview Jog
9.10.08 – Route – 43 min – 6:93am – 6.93 km Tea Run
11.10.08 – Route�- 1 hr 41 min – 3:24pm – 16.97 km Run

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Thanks Kelvin! Keep it up guys and gals, there’s less than 3 weeks before the big race! Sponsor my running/training/marathon mission and support the NZ Heart Foundation by clicking on this link here.

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Some people have asked me if I’ve got a target time for the 21km run. To be honest, my initial thoughts at the start of my training programme (i.e. months ago) was really just appreciating the opportunity to take part. I’d do my best, it’d be no problems, I’d raise a sizeable amount for the Heart Foundation, and catch up and train with friends through the week.

But that was before I read the back cover of Newstalk ZB radio presenter Kerre Woodham‘s marathon memoir.

Granted, she’s way more pro (having done full marathons and getting the media accolades for it) so perhaps it’s not a fair comparison. But her half-marathon results are around the 2-hour mark (2:03:41).

So let’s go for that!

Provided I can keep my pace between 5 and 6 minutes per kilometer, and not tail off horrendously in the second half of the November 2nd road adventure… I think it’s a realistic aim for my athletic ability.

So. Let’s. Beat. Kerre! (Or at least be motivated by her to some degree…)

Enjoy the return of the sun, everyone!

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I’m fundraising for the Heart Foundation of New Zealand. Check out my HeartRacer page.

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Week 7: Training Record

22.9.08 – Route – 25 min – 5:41am – 4.6 km Jog
23.9.08 – Route – 28 min – 5:40am – 5.03 km Jog
25.9.08 – Route – 40 min – 5:45am – 7.32 km “Tea” Run
27.9.08 – Route – 33 min – 3:35pm – 5.97 km Jog
28.9.08 – Route – 66 min – 6:52am – 11.78 km “Lee” Run

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It’s always great to run with someone else.

For a start, a training run passes by so much quicker when you’re chatting away down the footpath. The soreness and breathlessness seem muted when you’re engaging in friendly banter. You pace each other (provided the other guy’s not a professional marathon runner) and cover more ground.

And it’s also quite fun.

For all those who’ve decided to show their support by actually walking the talk and joining me in training – that’s awesome. I love you guys. Rather than pleasantries and rhetoric, you guys make it so much more rewarding by joining the fray, and doing something. No matter how little or how often I get to run with you, I’m happy because we get to spend a small portion of our lives in comradeship (so to speak).

So thanks!

This week I’ve ramped up the running a little to make up for last time. As you can see (below), each run steps up in time and length. One highlight was tracking along Eastern Beach on Tuesday, with the near-full harvest moon casting a pale limelight for each step I took under the clear night sky.

I think a realistic aim is to try to maintain my current pace which is between 5 and 6 minutes per kilometre, across the duration of the race. So far I’m tailing off a bit, especially past the hour mark into previously uncharted territory – I’ll look to working on that!

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I’m fundraising for the Heart Foundation of New Zealand. Check out my HeartRacer page.

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Week 6: Training Record

15.9.08 - Route - 23 min – 4:48pm – 4.02 km Jog
16.9.08 – Route - 35 min – 8:14pm – 5.95 km Jog
17.9.08 – Route - 43 min – 5:35am – 7.66 km “Tea” Run
19.9.08 – Route – 75 min – 8:47am – 12.39 km Run 

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Mm.

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It’s been a bit hectic this past week – unfortunately it meant one less run as a result. I had to apply some creative tactics (i.e. wake up super early) to fit in a few runs.

Nevertheless, this week’s training did include by far the most picturesque running route. I took advantage of a work trip to Sydney to savour the pavement-pressing experience, running past many a unique photo op along the way. You don’t always get many opportunities to do calf stretches in front of views of the Sydney Opera House and associated cityscape, so I’m very grateful.

Just as I’m grateful for the donations that keep trickling in! I believe that if just 5 more people helped out with $1 per km I lug my frame along come November 2, there’s a good chance of making the fundraising target!

I’ll leave this post with a picture of a group of people struggling with a fitness “boot camp” – their instructor barked out orders for pushups, rope pulling, jogging and so on! The Botanical Gardens I ran through was definitely a hive of fitness-related activity! Swiss balls, practice cones, shuttle runs, pilates sessions, stair climbing…

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Want to help but haven’t yet? Help me reach the fundraising target by clicking through to my HeartRacer page!

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Week 5: Training Record

9.9.08 – Route – 34 min – Jog
11.9.08 – Route – 34 min – 5:11am – Jog
12.9.08 – Route – 30 min – 6:13am – 5.16 km Sydney run

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Hope you’re all doing well as the inclement spring weather introduces itself!

I put in some pretty good runs this week. The durations start gradually extending and I start building in the distances, as per the training programme.

Did my first night run on Tuesday…

… and there’s not too much that beats being in your own space running towards old Howick under a clear night sky, amber hues cast from various electrical monoliths that one takes in their running strides, those veritable progress markers.

And then there’s the dawn run (Thursday), where you bounce along the Eastern Beach esplanade as if the waves and the sand wake up to your footsteps – “and though the clouds may hide the sun”, on Thursday morning it peeked through just in time to usher in the working day.

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So there’s about two months to go, and so far I haven’t broken any bones in my body. I suspect that if given the motivation, marathon or no marathon, running regularly would be an excellent way to combat the travails of sedentary office-based work. Of course, you could always elect to pursue a career that adds in running around as part of your job description!

Introducing my latest personal trainer:

This sprightly cyclist trailed me along three runs this week – how’s that for commitment? It’s a pretty good challenge trying to keep pace with a bicycle, especially when you’re bounding down Takutai Rd. Of course… she ends up having to wheel the bike up the steep inclines. But we keep each other company, and of course it’s fun!

Re: donations, I’ve nearly solicited half of the final target. Unlike the big bold politicos, I don’t have the benefit of a wealthy Monaco logistics company CEO. I’m enjoying running for a purpose, and as always there’s been cool feedback from people I talk to.

I’m learning to be more and more content with my lot in life, and complain a little less. The fact that I can run the streets of Auckland freely and and without impediment – this is actually a luxury that people in war-torn countries, smog-polluted cities and dense metroscapes may struggle to do.

Sore knees and ankles pale into insignificance. Even more so when you read some of these stories.

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Give a little. Check out my HeartRacer page here.

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Week 3: Training Record

26.8.08 – Route – 5:31pm – 34 min – Jog
28.8.08 – Route – 6:03pm – 11 min – Jog
30.8.08 – Route – 8:49am – 59 min – Jog with AN
31.8.08 – Route – 4:59pm – 21 min – Jog

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