Let's Play: Choose A Cover
A good time to be in Hong Kong, The Lantau 70, and new cover options.
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Moments of the Week (Mar 11-17)
For term two, Lea’s music class was put into groups of five to perform a song of their choice. For their final project, her band performed Taylor Swift’s “Long Live” and she was on the electric guitar.
My cousins Vincis and Arthia, and our NYC roommate, Marlowe, heard the call and spent an extended weekend in HK. They lucked out with the weather and we took them to all our favorites… except hiking.
We started a donation pile and Lea has been busy turning shirts into midriffs.
Next Friday night, we head to South Africa. Part 1 of the trip is Cape Town to drive the Garden Route and Part 2 starts in Johannesburg and continues on the Panorama Route followed by Kruger National Park. Our return flight to HK was changed so we took advantage by adding a two-day stopover in Dubai.
I’m Writing a Memoir
Two and a half new cover options. Which one do you prefer (1, 2, or 3)?
Feedback welcome.
Admin news…
Release Day: Tuesday, April 23rd. The eBook is now available for pre-order via Amazon.
The Goodreads page is live. Read some of the early feedback and please chip in with your own to help potential readers decide, “Is this book for me?” FYI reviews on Amazon are only allowed after a book is published.
On The Move
Run With Me on Strava - 58.05 mi, 11,572 ft
Lantau 70 Recap (Reposted from Strava)
9:17:32 I 10,135 ft of climbing I 7,340 calories burned
Coming into the weekend I was healthy, rested, and relaxed. I have been consistent with my weekly mileage but lacked the long runs and elevation.
Would it catch up with me?
Goals:
Catch the 645 ferry home
Finish strong rather than hold on to dear life
Beat last year’s time (8:47)
My simple race strategy was as follows:
Take it easy, <160 HR
Let people pass
Keep eating and mix up the nutrition
Run the catch waters (flat road sections)
Descend one step at a time
Notable Moments:
Climbing Sunset and Lantau peaks were fun. I had plenty of company.
Descending into Tai O was crushing physically (on my quads) and mentally, knowing that I would have to climb back out. The climb out was the worst.
I got passed by a relay team member and I tagged along for the trail descent and catch water through CP3. We were clocking a solid 8min miles!
I enjoyed my time at the early CPs drinking coke and eating fruit and biscuits. I was in no rush.
After CP3, the fatigue really started to hit. It was a challenging 7km stretch to the next CP and once I started climbing, I started to have my doubts. Do I want to even finish?
Walking became my default speed and my goal was just to catch the 6:45pm ferry. If I average a 20 min pace, I will have some time to spare.
Radio Hill, the last climb was tough. I knew that when I got through this, I was in the home stretch.
The Good:
I finished.
Nutrition throughout was okay
Compared to last year, I ran a conservative and well paced race through CP3
I didn’t get competitive and ran my own raceI stayed on my feet and didn’t fall or get hurt.
My legs worked through the end. There were no paralyzing cramps.
I ran 90% of the catch waters. (The second catch water got me. I thought it was 5k but it kept going.)
The Bad:
The lack of proper training caught up with me. And after 5-6 hours, I was ready to call it a day.
It hurt a lot.
I settled for finishing
At the end:
I was hurting badly and couldn’t talk. I even got dizzy and lay on the ground for 15 mins. My stomach was in knots and had stretches of dry vomiting.
The kids said I looked like a zombie because of my sunken eyes and dehydrated face.
Maricar estimates I dropped 10 lbs
Ways to Improve:
Learn to run at lower gear. When I was on the catch water I told myself to go at a 10 min/pace and kept going faster until I would start to walk. 10 min miles are better than 20.
I get so caught up in my day-to-day running that I don’t make the time for long trail runs.
Why do I do these races? They hurt so much.
My next race will be in April with half the distance and elevation gain. Doable.
Sketch cover (option 1) looks the best. It gives the characters life especially jero and maricar!