55:55:55

I ran the Great Eastern Singapore Womens 10K (6.25 miles) last Sunday with an official chip time of just under 56 minutes. Only women were allowed to run - although I saw a few questionable "women" in the race - and 8,200 showed up for the event. The Kenyans finished in 33 minutes! They were amazing!

I was quite pleased with myself but sooo exhausted. After Germany, my illness got even worse during the week and I ended up seeing a respiratory specialist. My ear completely clogged up and I could not hear anything out of it, my throat remained sore and my chest hurt. I went to the doctor to get rid of this mess quick-like so I could run the 10K Sunday. When I said that...he laughed at me and told me I was not running!

My birthday was Friday and I was feeling so bad that I called off my own party! How sad is that? By Saturday I was feeling better and on Sunday...well, I didn't listen very well to my doctor's warnings and ran the 10K anyway! I felt alright except for a little cough and no hearing on the left side. I hadn't really worked out all week or ran but I was determined to do this thing.




Honestly...it felt harder to me than when I ran the Houston Marathon...which is 20 miles more! It was so tough but I never stopped and kept pushing through. Rob was there to cheer me on and 2 other girls from my basketball team also ran. I finally finished in 55:55:55!

After I finished, Rob and I both came home and slept 3 hours! We later went to watch the SG Basketball team play (Rob has season tickets and I went with a few girls) and we were home and asleep by 9:45 that night!

I went back to the doctor yesterday and my blood tests came back...turns out, I have "walking pneumonia"! I am still on meds but honestly don't even feel sick any more other than tiring easily. So with that...I am really proud of myself for running and thankful I was able to sleep when I finished!

We don't have too much planned in the near future. Rob has clients in all this week and next and Halloween is just around the corner! I start another term next weekend - this one is going to be tough! In a few weeks, Rob is going to Melbourne for a Horse Race or something (for work) and then we will be getting ready to go back to Texas in December for Todd and Jenni's wedding!!!

IRONROB

He did it!

70.3 miles using only his own power for six and half hours....

Rob completed the half IRONMAN last Sunday and I could not be more proud of him! He worked so hard for to reach this goal for himself. Througout his 15 weeks of training, he logged 180 miles running, 560 miles biking and 26 miles of swimming, as well as hitting the gym once a week to lift! He also cut out the heavy drinking and watched what he ate.

This was an amazing goal for him to reach, he set it for himself, worked hard and acheived it. He has come a really long way!


Let me talk a minute about Rob's weight loss; alot of people think it started just before he moved to Singapore. He actually started losing weight WAY back in 2003 after his first MS150. A short while later, he decided to cut out fast food and alcohol for 6 weeks. At that time, both made up a huge part of Rob's diet, so replacing that with water & home-cooked food...and eating throughout the day...helped shed pounds alone. This encouraged him to keep going.

He also got the exercise bug...more MS150's, marathons, biathlons, triathlons and ultimately the half Ironman. This has been a process that has taken about 3.5 to 4 years. He has worked hard and had to have will power...of course it can't be all work and no play! Its all about balancing everything in order to stick to it and make it a lifestyle...afterall, life would be a little less fun without Mexican food, ice cream and the occassional night out until 5am!

Below are some pics of the event...I made signs and cheered him along the entire time! From the 7:25am swim start at the beach, to the finish right in the center of the city. The finish line was a happening atmosphere, it took place on the "Floating Platform" with a great view of the city, lots of people, music and booths. As far as watching, I wasn't bored at all...this stuff goes hand in hand with my college education and new career path....so it was really fun for me to watch. I honestly thought I would get bored after 4 hours, but it was fun being a spectator too...I love this stuff anyway!

Now I have been right next to Rob when he has "hit his wall" during competition. He becomes very stubborn, grumpy, wants to sit down and never move again! (Sydney Marathon last year!). When he does get back up, he hates every minute of it until he finishes! This competition was totally different. The entire time, he looked really good, dare I say, Happy! I never saw him looking like he was hurting or hating it. He seemed to soak up every second of it and looked good throughout the entire event.

Rob wouldn't be Rob without a bit of friendly competition and trash-talkin'. Mikael, from the office, also did the event. They have done tri's and biathlons together in the past, always with some bet or wager on the line. however, this event is so big that neither one of them could really talk trash after finishing it.

As far as recovery, he's has also done well - still getting around just fine but a little sore.

So...any other psycho crazy long events in the near future???? I think he is done for a while. Maybe stick to 2 hour competitions like half marathons and olympic distance tri's.

This event was a qualifying event that included elite athletes from 48 countries. The top guy finished at 3:49:59 and the top female at 4:11:23. Rob finished with a respectable 6:22:40; in his age group, he was 61 out of 126.

Winners of the Losers

APC Singapore hosted a client appreciation Volleyball Tournament last Saturday. It was a great opportunity for Rob and I to showcase our volleyball skills, landing us in the championship...of the losers.

One great thing about Singapore being a small island is that an overly-capitalized beach is never too far away. The tournament was held at Singapore's "resort get-away island", Sentosa. It's actually a pretty island but the rate they are building on Sentosa seems like disneyland will be in our backyard soon.

Anyway, Rob's office rented out part of an outdoor bar/grill area and 2 volleyball courts. The games started at 11:30am and lasted until about 3pm. The weather was nice and hot for us but rained at lunch, just long enough to cool things down.

Rob and I were on team APC1, along with a couple of his German and Danish colleagues. About 50 people showed up with their families and friends so it ended up being a good turn out.

Sadly, APC1 lost the first 2 games and we were matched up to play with the other APC team in our final game to play for last place. I should have put more thought into joining the host team! We finally won a game against the APC2 team, making us either the Winners of the Losers or...Losers of the Losers...??

The team that won was an all Danish guy team from the Danish shipping company, Maersk. I am convinced they had been practicing and training for months leading up to this. Probably even hired new people just to play on this Saturday! (just kidding!)

The fun lasted for us until around 5pm, but some stayed and continued the party until well after dark!