William Chong

Driving to work after a good Bible study, I (and the rest of East Auckland commuters) was greeted with the sight of a rainbow that arched across the sky, and across the motorway entrance.

It felt like I was driving under a chromatone bridge that was ordained by the Creator Himself.

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling/mighty thunder,
Thy pow’r thru-out the universe displayed!

Have a good day everyone!

Plotting runs on google maps has been pretty fun these past few months. I think I’ve been able to explore many of the sights and sounds of my local suburbs – something that unfortunately eludes all too many people in their pursuit of the rat race. During my training I’ve been fortunate enough to meander along the streets of Bucklands Beach, Eastern Beach, Howick, Pakuranga, Panmure, Farm Cove, Half Moon Bay, Golflands, Botany Downs, Meadowlands and Highland Park – and my appetite to discover has only just begun!

There’s a lot I’ve discovered about Auckland just by running among the people and their streets. In the past 3 months I’ve seen:

• an elderly sage meditating in a cross-legged and introspective pose, perched on a small wood fence with the beauty of green grass, cobalt sea and sapphire sky behind him
• that Pigeon Mountain has a significant chunk excavated out of one side mastectomy-style, with blocks of housing and a scrappy treeline in its place
• the wetland area that skirts around the Tamaki inlet dotted with eager mangrove shoots, a safe haven harbouring an intricate ecosystem I last explored on a primary school field trip
• that there are certain sidewalks in the neighbourhood that lead straight to views so breathtaking, you’re compelled to pause your workout and just savour an E.G.C. moment
• people of all sizes, ages, races, dispositions exercise, and there are more people out on the pavement at 5am in the morning than you’d expect
• an indescribable sense of Auckland’s serenity and safety that I’ve grown to love

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I’m winding down my running distances (as you can tell from my training record). In general, the week leading up to the marathon is where the athlete will want to recover and repair his/her body fully in preparation for the big race. Any strenuous training at this stage is less likely to add significantly to the athlete’s endurance, and more likely to afflict an injury.

Do. Not. Want. Injury. Not now.

I’ll try and do a final write-up as close to the race as possible. I’m bringing a camera with me, so hopefully I will be able to give you an on-the-street, as-close-as-you’ll-get-to-running-it-yourself perspective of the 2008 Auckland marathon event. Stay tuned!

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Tricia, Ben, Paul, Theresa, Maria, Yuen, Henry, Tina, Brendan – thanks heaps, you guys are amazing! Check out my HeartRacer page and see how they’ve totally broken through the fundraising target!

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Week 11: Training Record

20.10.08 – Route – 33 min – 5:41pm – 6.30 km Run
21.10.08 – Route – 39 min – 7:56pm – 6.96 km Jog
24.10.08 – Route – 39 min – 5:25am – 6.96 km Jog
25.10.08 – Route – 1 hr 14 min – 7:29am – 13.79 km Run with BL
26.10.08 – Route – 33 min – 7:20am – 5.82 km Jog

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