My Family in Perth: UWATRI

Just took the hardest walk to Uni.
I went to see the team one last time before leaving and I was overwhelmed with emotions on the way there.

When I first came to Perth, I knew that the transition wouldnt have been easy, especially for the fact that I didnt have any friends who were living in Perth then. I remember searching the internet for a running club that I could join so that I could join in, meet some mates and improve running. Well, probably the focus was really be on running. Eventually, I chose to join the UWATRI team.

I remembered the very first running session I had with Dracup, James An, Vanessa and Damian at Mt Bay. It was the Friday afternoon 5km Time Trial run. I remembered how everyone was blazing the run then and I just had to go in so hard just to keep up with Dracup until the turn around (that sly asswipe). I remembered the following session at McGillivary and that was the day I met Grant Landers, the best coach I have ever met in my life. I remembered how painful and torturous the workouts were and how I consistently was unable to finish the workout. Despite saying all these, Tuesday and Friday soon became my favourite days of the week and my week was generally built around this two days.

Getting my first ever group ride out. Unfortunately the first and last (hopefully I get back into this).

Muffins never tasted so good.

Little did I know, instead of finding myself a club/team, I found myself a family here in Perth. A family that made Perth "home" and unfortunately had to witness my accident; a family who constantly supported me through this period.

The hardest goodbyes are those that you dont want to make. For the past 2 days, I have been making those.

Getting as much rest before Grant arrives is part of our training. #truestory

The excited and worried feeling while waiting for the workout.

Intervals have never been as fun. Thanks to you guys.

As Josh calls us. "GLDT"

Thanks Grant.
Thanks Charles.
Thanks UWATri.

Love you guys so much. Take care, train well and ride safe.

Till we meet again. And hopefully by then, I will continue to recover and get in some decent workout with you guys then.

1st Anniversary

366 days ago on the 6 Nov 2013 my accident occurred.
A life changing event indeed.

Somehow, even till today, I dont really want to talk about how it happened. Because deep down, I still feel frustrated about the situation and it is something that I would have rather not happened to me, or anyone.

6 Nov is now another date that I choose to celebrate.
Its a day where I survived.
It was a matter of split seconds, ~ 2 mm that could have changed everything.


So on my special day, I celebrated it by going for a 21 km time trial. Well, its only a time trial because im giving it my all. It has nothing to do with speed, unfortunately.

As I running, thoughts came flooding through my mind.
364 days ago I was indirectly told I would never walk again.
I chose not to give up.
I chose to believe in miracles.
I chose to believe in my determination.
I chose to believe in God.

I could remember the moments when breathing was so painful because my lunges were collapsing.
I could remember the hyper sensitivity in my arms that made every light touch felt like knife slitting me, skinning me alive. Even till today, I still get these sensitivity at times.
I could remember how desperate I was to move my body but yet they didnt feel like they belonged to me.
I pray I will never experience this ever again.

I thought of how this has affected my family and I am really apologetic to put them through all these sufferings.
I remembered every one who visited me, people who sent me encouraging messages. Thank you.

I remembered my first run in January 2014. Although it was 5 simple steps, there were tears of joy.

I remembered the days were I would walk for an hour just to reach the lecture theaters and me taking a day just to type my assignments. There were even talks of UWA providing me a buggy so I could drive it on campus.

I thought of the days prior to the accident, days whereby running along Mat Bay was an easy task, some what of a relaxing jog. Today, every step is tough. The moment I relaxed, I would trip or my feet drags. I have to been on constant alert to ensure I do not fall and that I can keep going. Being able to run is such a privilege. I just didnt know it.

Then I remembered how 321 days ago on the 20 Nov 2013 I was told I will never complete a marathon again, let alone run it.
I smiled.
I grinned.
I remember how I told her: "You havent come across Zac. I am an outlyer". and what was her reply? "You can try, it is good to have a goal. But be realistic"
In another month, I will take part in the Singapore Marathon and that would be my 2nd in 2014. Out of the sudden, I felt happy jogging at 7min/km. ha.

Over the weekend, I got my classification license for Para-athletics.
The assessors were particularly impressed with my movements despite the high spasms, increased tone and reduced range of motions. We did a couple of run throughs and sprints. Following that, the assessors encouraged me to participant in the coming state meets that could result in me representing Australia in the near future. Funny thing was, I was advised to do 100m sprints. Without a doubt, I rejected it.

I love endurance events.
I love the feeling of having to battle the inner demons while Im on the run.
I love to overcome all the negative thoughts that tell me to "stop" or to "go slower".
I love the feeling of running till my lunges are gonna explode but yet I manage to find another gear to push on.
Even when I do not get on the podium, winning against myself is enough.

In this regard, obviously, I chose the longest event on the list: 1500m. And still, I think its a little too short for me. 100% certain that I do not have enough speed for the run but its gonna be fun building speed into my runs I reckon. Just hope my shoulders can hold up.

As my run continues, the inner demons came and I had to fight my way through that and of course the infamous head wind. It was a struggle. I lost count of the number of times I wanted to stop running and head home. #1 trouble of running in loops. What made things worse was that my drink bottle got smashed by a cyclist. No idea why and how he/she did it but im sure all cyclists avoid red drink bottles on grass patches. So I was without a water point for the remainder 10 km. Must have been a test to see I would have given up. Well, I stuck through and finished my 21km, 20 minutes faster than my half marathon on 31 May. So good job. Im satisfied for now.

There really isnt much reason for me to train now. But I still do it because I love it.
And im sure running helps me in some ways. and hey, who knows? Maybe a miracle might appear (again).

-side track-
there has been jokes about me do going to get any more miracles in this life time because I have conjured everything to survive and to run again. Its actually pretty funny but at the same time, makes me realised how miraculous it is for me to typing this entry now.
-side track over- 

More running to come, more marathons to complete and hopefully one day, I will get my confidence back and start riding on the road again then I can do the longest single day event on planet Earth.
Dying to hear that 5 sweet words "You are a Iron man".

6 November. I choose to embrace and celebrate this date.
Because. I am still alive.
Lets see how things will go on our 2nd anniversary. <3 p="">Im excited.

Its all in the mind (brain) or maybe spinal chord

Since Shenton park rehabilitation center was closing down, I had one last round of consultations with all the doctors to make sure we tie down all loose ends. Had a chat with my botox consultant not too long ago and the conversations was really a “weird” one.

Doc: So how have you been? Is the botox working for you?

Me: Well. Generally they are.. Im able to open my hand now and it doesn’t hurt as much as before 

due to the spasm.

Doc: That’s great news! And so I heard you have completed a marathon recently. Its amazing!

Me: ermm.. yeah. Its just another long run I guess. It wasn’t fast. I had to stop along the way many times too.

Doc: Hey look mate. What do you expect? U really expect to get out of the accident and to be back to where you were before?

Me: yeah… that’s what I am aiming for…

-silence-

Doc: no seriously. For you to get up and walk, it’s extreme hard work and its almost impossible. For you to run now and to be able to finish a marathon now, I think you should learn to be content. DONT BE GREEDY.

This is seriously weird. Throughout my whole life, I have been taught to aim for the stars, never to be content and to work my ass off. Now, I am told to be happy with whatever I have. Am I wrong to try to be back at where I was? Should I give up on that? Should I just take the easy way out and be happy with what I have? I am being greedy? These questions bombarded my head for a few days.

Following that, I had a chat with my doctor friend and he took told me this:

Bro, you know, you should really be content. I mean, even if you dont run as fast as before, you really should be happy. Let me remind you, you were like a couple of mm away for dying. And I literally meant dying. Die. Dead. Death. So to live is a blessing. 

So I came to this conclusion. I will give up.

Give up.

Give up chasing who I was.

But focus on better myself every single day.

Simply put, I was always unhappy with my run times because I was looking back at that 75s 400m. I was chasing that me when I did the sub 3 hour marathon. I was constantly frustrated with playing the guitar, as I could hardly open my left hand wide enough just to squeeze the fret board through, not mentioning it was impossible to get my fingers to make a chord. I was chasing me, when I was at my peak. I have decide to give up on that.

I have decided to be contented with what I have now. So, I start to acknowledge where I am at now. If it’s a 7 min km, it is 7 min. I will use that as a bench mark and improve from there. Whether I will ever reach sub 4 mins, however, remains to be determined. If I don’t try, I wont know. So, its time to get the work down and only time will tell.

Most interestingly, I took some time and changed my guitar (standard right handed) to a left handed guitar. I had to learn how to wrap my right hand around the fret board to form a C chord, then a G chord, then a Em, Am, F.. Just like the old days when I first hand my hands on a guitar. Teaching  my left hand to do some simple finger strumming and only last week, I held a pick for the first time with my left hand. It is a really weird feeling because my natural playing instincts are still there and everything is inverted now. Kinda reminded me of the time when I broke my right hand and had to learn to write with my left. All the throbbing pain in the head and the amount of focus just to do something “simple”. But I have taken my first step out. To stop living in my past.

Only after I had done all these, had I realised how badly I was haunted by my past. Although I seemed to be doing well, challenging myself and defy medical diagnosis, I hadn’t been happy for the longest time ever. Every single day was a constant need to prove to myself that I will be back to where I was. And when I plateau, I had to battle and slay the inner demons just for them to come back and haunt me a while later. It was a vicious cycle.

One of my happiest days post accident was the day I discovered I could “run”. I remembered the smile on my face, the way I hugged my physio, how it made me felt like I was a world champion.

One of the promise I made to myself was to continue running for the rest of my life, to enjoy it and not take this ability for granted.

Running is not about hating your opponent or trying to beat someone else or proving to your sponsors. 

I have gotten all these wrong in the past.

No one puts a gun to my head and tells me to do a sub 3 hour marathon. (ermmm well… they sorta did with their words but… *ahem*) I chose to do it. And subconsciously, it is because I love running.

I haven’t given up hope of doing another sub 3 hour marathon.

But now, I really need to focus on improving from my 7 min/km rather than bridging the gap to a 4min/km. Ironically, my coach has been telling me this for the longest time ever and I just didn’t seem to understand it. Now I do. Now I really do. Thanks for the wise words Grant.

Just this week, I changed physio and we had to go through this whole assessment and introduction.

Physio: So Zac. Do you have a support group?

Me: Yeah. Besides my family and girlfriend, I have my team.

Physio: Sorry. What team is this?

Me: My UWATRI team. I have a great coach, a bunch of excellent athletes to train with and they always keep me positive. Not forgetting to always drop me off even at warm up runs =)

Couldnt help but smile at the thought of the team.

Physio: Looks like you are well taken care of.

Me: you betcha.

After every single running session, my girlfriend would mention “someone seems happy today”. Damn right I am happy. So glad I have this team to be with. So glad I still run with the elite squad even thought I don’t have the ability to keep up at all. But seeing these people run each week, just makes me so happy. Never knew peer support was so damn important in recovery.

I know I often set big goals for myself. And I will continue to.

Very often what is deemed “impossible” just means no one has done it YET.

So, it just takes one person, the first person, to achieve it and it would be deemed “possible”.

I-M-Possible.

The white dot is the permanent damage in my spinal chord. This is gonna be with me for the rest of my life. Not gonna let this white dot/"hole" stop me.

extreme low morale

currently feeling really low morale.

Haven't been running for the past 2 weeks and was hoping for the physios to clear me to run today or maybe by next weekend and the answer is still no. This is so irritating, this is so demoralizing, and this is so depressing. Looks like whatever training I had done in the past 1 month plus is going back down the drain. Again.

So when you think enough bad news is here, it just ain't. Discovered lots of new issues with the shoulder this morning and apparently it's really bad. At this point of time, no one has any real idea how to treat my shoulder and everyone is just waiting for that injection to happen, pray that it works. if it doesn't, then I will have to move on to see some specialized shoulder dude and doctors and blah blah blah.

I can handle tough workouts
I love the pain that comes with a good workout
I love challenging stuff
I just love it when I am pushed to my physical limits.

But this. Is a new limit.
Not-to-exercise-my-shoulder limit.
No running
No cycling
No swimming
No pushing through pain
Pain is bad.

What nonsense is this?!?!
Hai..


Just not too long ago, I had this conversation with my friend.

Friend: bro, you've got to learn to take it slow.

Me: patience really ain't my thing. That's why I run a marathon fast.

-true story-

Hell yeah. Patience ain't my thing. Especially when I can't do anything. let's just Sit down eat relax and get fat. be a useless bum that sits down and watch Korean shows? Thanks but no thanks. I rather be out pounding myself, smashing it, giving my body a hard time. I had enough for one lifetime for being unfit and obese.

So many people have been doing this YOLO (you only live once) stuff online. How about try being fit and healthy  and enjoy the beautiful world because YOLO?! Instead of going out partying till wasted YOLO? Or Korean drama YOLO?
Seriously.
Some people need to get their heads checked.

This mental battle.. is taking it's toll. It's not just a physical challenge, it's a mental challenge as well.
How I wish, I could be pain free for a day. Just a day.
how I wish I could walk without limping, even if it is for just one day.
How I wish I could use my left hand to use the fork for just one meal.
Not easy at all. not easy.
All these wishes, I know certainly is not going to happen ever again in this life time.

I once thought I had great determination and my determination has no equal. Having to fight the inner demons and to keep pushing it through training and especially during the marathon at 31-35km. I have experienced real lows in life. Having my dreams shattered. Having lost a business. Losing everything you had. These got me through the marathon. Now, I am using the marathon to get me through my rehab and daily living. Having lost running And the ability to play musical instruments is a whole nice world of challenge. And this time, I have no escape route.

Never had a mental breakdown during my hospital/rehabilitation phase till recently. Never too late to have one they say. At least this shows I am human.

Just before I left hospital, one of the patients came to have a chat with me and he told me how he uses me as his strength and hope to be able to get back on his feet. He is now able to stand with some assistance. I was totally unaware of this "mentor" role but I am very happy for him and I must admit, I wasnt being the best motivator I could have been this morning. When he was told that I was an athlete, he said he would love to see me run a marathon soon. Looks like its true. When I run, I carry the hopes of others. But first.. I will need to be able to run again. and I have to learn to work on my emotions as well.

Maybe God just wants to put me in such a spot. To test me and to see if I can survive this. I don't know. I don't blame God. Although I don't understand any thing. I am still extremely fortunate to be alive (although it was really freakish how this all happened. Stupid drain. I hate drains.) and I am definitely thankful to be able to be back on my feet. I still consistently think of my friends in the spinal ward and will continue to pray for everyone's recovery.

Looks like.. the only thing for me to do now, is to treat this situation like it's just another tough stretch in a marathon. Gotta keep my head down, concentrate on moving one leg after the other, keeping it consistent, not losing speed, endure and.. pray for the best.

Not by might, nor by power, but by the spirit.

Low morale or not, the race isn't over yet. YOLO.

"Go hard or Go home" they say.
I say: Go hard till I go "home".

Bad news has arrived

Had a real hard time getting myself to sit down to get this blog entry in. I just didn’t want myself to look back at this and get reminded of how negative I felt during this period but yet, I wanted something for me to look back years later. A real story of myself, going through part and parcel of life experiencing what life should be: filled with ups and downs. So, as negative as this may be, I have decided that this entry can wait no longer.

I had been having left shoulder issues since March and it has been getting from bad to worse. First, it stopped me from swimming. Then I couldn’t sleep at night due to the pain it gives. A while later, I was not able to put my body weight through my shoulders while riding. My shoulders hurt so much that I couldn’t even lift my elbow above my shoulder level and I just can’t seem to get my range of motion (not that I had much left after the accident) due to the pain, the stiffness of the deltoids and impingement. Funny how such a small muscle group actually stopped me from doing ALL 3 components of triathlon. Shit just continues to happen doesn’t it. An ultrasound was done on the shoulder a few back, checking for tendinitis (which was what the medical team thought was the issue), only to find out that my tendons are PERFECT. However, they did find my barsa damaged and I am currently still waiting for my injection at the end of this month. All in all, this shoulder pain took 5 months just to get treated, giving me 3 months of sleepless nights and taking me off swimming and running cycling. Shit.

So I went into the doctor’s room 2 weeks back and we had a little chat. He seemed so happy about how far I have progressed since the early paralysis days and was really amazed and proud that I actually completed a marathon within 7 months of my accident. I just couldn’t resist but ask:

Me: So, what is your take on my spasms and stuff? Likely to improve any time soon?

Doctor took his glasses off. There was silence for a couple of seconds as he looked me in the eyes.

Doctor: Let’s revisit your initial CT and MRI scans shall we?

He took out the pictures and we had a look at them again.

Doctor: Look, this your spinal cord. Look at these white patches, they represent the damaged portion of your spinal cord. Blah blah blah..

Whatever he said, didn’t really matter to me. I was just waiting for that one conclusive sentence which I would so love to hear. “Yes, you will get better” “yes you will be better” “hell yeah it will be alright”.

Doctor: *blah blah blah* .. So in conclusion, No.

My heart sank.

Doctor: It has been 8 months going 9 and the spasm hasn’t really improved has it? This is going to be with you for the rest of your life.

Time froze. My heart went cold and .. I just felt like crying. For life. He said it will be for life. And it wont improve. Man.. I just wonder… if I could have done anything differently to have avoided this accident. And the answer was no. shit happens. And it really did happen, for no apparent reason.

Doctor: Lets go for another round of scans just to be sure. I would love to be proven wrong but don’t get your hopes high. If the scans showed that it has improved but your spasms haven’t been then its not exactly meaningful either.

Ok. So in conclusion, whether I do the scans or not, I am stuck for life with this spasm that will restrict my movement as a normal human being and I will be highly unlikely to run normally again. Period.

As I felt the hospital, I felt lost. I thought to myself, this must have been what the other patients felt when they were told they would never walk/stand/move for the rest of their life. This… despair.. this cruel truth.. this sadness from deep within.. is something I have never felt before in my life. I tried to pick myself up, I tried to be cheerful, I tried to hit the gym, I tried to run a little.. But nothing works. I was in a slump. A deep dark dirty slump. I need to climb out of this shit hole as soon as possible before I become more of a negative ball of energy. But. I just couldn’t.

I went for training the next day, running as hard as I can. And That’s how I usually do it.

Go as hard as I can, till my lunges can no longer take it.

Go as hard as I can till my legs is filled with lactic and it goes numb.

Go as hard as I can, hoping all my troubles will be blown away, just like the wind on my face.

Go as hard as I can, to feel that I am alive.

I did feel better briefly after training but as soon as I started breaking down my splits, I heard this dark voice coming from within “You will never be the same again. Spasms FOR LIFE. Bad gait FOR LIFE”. And I crashed again. I just couldn’t stand the thought of fully abled body people who do not strive to better themselves, but “choose” to allow themselves to deteriorate slowly, rotting their lives away. Here I am, working my ass off every single day, just in hopes that I will get back near to where I once was. This is seriously screwed up.

Went to Evolved the next day, wanting to “spin” my legs a little, to work on my mechanics and to get rid of the lactic from the hard training the day before. Its not to my surprise that I did not follow through on that, instead going in as hard as I ever hard and smashing my body yet again. This time, it felt better. Way better. Seeing that magical 16km/h on the treadmill just feels so awesome. Yes, I was only running on 40% of my body weight (25kg) but still, at least my legs spun that fast to keep up with the treadmill. Gotta start somewhere and from what I feel, this is a good start.

Bumped into one of my spinal mates the following day and we had a little chat.

Friend: Everything good?

Me: not really. The doctors told me I will no longer improve.

Friend: hey look mate. You did a marathon.

Me: yeah. But.. I walked for majority of it. And I literally came in 3^rd last.

Friend: Yeah, but none of the runners who completed ahead of you had a serious injury and I am pretty sure none of them had a spinal cord injury and that none of them was paralysed. And lets not forget the people who dropped out of the race mate. In my heart, you came in 1^st. 1^st spinal patient.

I have never thought about things this way. I never wanted to use my “disability” card because I want to aim for the sky and to be the best I ever can be. But what he said really made sense.

Friend: Zac, one day, I want to be where you are now. To complete a marathon even if it means for me to walk 10 hours just to complete it.

Here I am bitching and feeling sad for myself when I am the fortunate one. Whatever happened to “count my blessings”?

The conversation left me thinking. It got me sorted out and I am ready for my next challenge.

So just when things seemed to be better, my shoulder got worse and I can no longer run due to the pain during the arm swing. To be honest, swimming and cycling really aint my thing (yet) but running is. Being taken out of running is a big blow to me (AGAIN). Just makes me wonder how many times I will be stopped from running. When will this retarded cycle ever end?! Its like.. Here I am training hard and BAM! I have to stop running again. And there goes my plan of doing the Fremantle 10k run. How on Earth am I supposed to do a sub 50min 10km run without training for it. So now, it is official, my shoulder has officially taken me out of swimming, cycling and running. Shit happens.

Know what. I am not giving up yet. I shall not give up on myself.

I did a 6:30 marathon this June. I will cut it to sub 5 next year. Then sub 4 then I will work my way back to sub 3. I don’t really care what the hell diagnosis it was. I am gonna grab life and make every day count. I will treasure every single session I have in the gym, in the physio, on the road with my teammates and get myself back on track, even if it means I have a much lousier gait than before. I am no longer racing to break the Singapore national record. I am racing against myself. And should have been the way right from the start. Running is about doing my best, out-doing myself and conquering my inner demons. To tell these dark voices to SHUT UP when I feel smashed.

I might have been stopped from running for now.

It will not stop me from training hard.

I will continue to work hard and one day.
One fine day. I will be back running, feeling the freedom and smashing it.

Hard work pays off.

Nil Sine Labore.

 

prepared and written by Zac Leow

Evolve to adapt, adapt to evolve

Ever since I was interviewed, I had received some mails from fellow spinal patients and they all wanted me to share some of the therapies I have been doing. I feel so much for all these people because, I really do know what it feels to be in such a state and I often admire those who have not given up even when their current medical conditions are worse than mine. This road to rehabilitation is one tough road.. I have tried everything possible, medications, botox, physio, massage, OT, cranial osteopathy, all the works. But recently, I have started a new exciting treatment.

So recently I have been visiting "this evolved place" which many has asked me about. Thought I might share a little more about this evolved place.

Evolved Exercise Solutions (aka Evolved) is the name of the clinic I have been visiting and it is a physio/personal training center. Whats most distinctive is that it has an anti-gravity treadmill.

A what? 
Anti-gravity? 
you sure? 
How does that work?

So.. let me do a simple introduction to the anti-gravity machine.

Step 1. You are given a space suit. Only the bottom though. 

Step 2. Put on your space bottom OVER your pants/tights. Lets try to be hygienic.

Step 3. Step into the space machine.

Step 4. Zip up, Suit up, get ready for take off.

Step 5. Reduce weight, set speed and inclination (fastest weight loss ever. I swear)

Step 6. Gentlemen, start your engines. *vroooom... brr... vrooom 

Step 7. Take a break in between if you feel like dying

Step 8. You huff and you puff and go harder and faster to better your best.

 

Step 9. Prepare for landing and for gravity (again).

It is that simple. Sci-fi technology that isnt supposed to be on planet Earth. ha.

I have heard of this machine in the past and it was then only made available for the world's most elite endurance athletes. The elites would clock in their 42km long run on this machine to "spare" their legs while concentrating on the high turn over rates or when they are coming back from an injury and needed to put in some extra mileage. I have always wanted to try this! Little did I know, I would be using it in this "new, evolved" body.

negative thoughts go away*

negative thoughts go away*

negative thoughts go away* 

 =x

Ok. on a serious note, this stuff has worked well for me. I think it is a synergy of how this ties down with all my physios, strength work, gym, running drills, running sessions, biking sessions all work together. Yeah. Thats alot of things I do for a week.

I did a 2:41:21 half marathon back in Singapore before visiting Evolved and just 2 weeks later, 3 sessions in, I did a 2:38:40 at the 21km mark for my marathon. 

I guess what is so special about this is the fact that I was able to run at higher speed without putting on the weight on my knees. The "lightness" allowed me to focus on my techniques and also for me to get in some body awareness while being strapped on at a spot, not falling over even when my left stop moving and gets dragged along the treadmill. 

During my first session, I realised that I have been missing out on the flight phase of my run and I worked on it.

Subsequently, I realised how uneven my stride lengths are, with my left foot stride being smaller than my right foot stride.

I then realised my left hamstrings have not been "kicking in", making that nice small circular motion it once produced.

I also realised that I am not using my left glutes.

and the list goes on and on and on.

hate it when running isnt natural. grrr.

we were born to run! right ? right?

Just need to get this thing back on track so that I can once again enjoy running.

and... I have resumed running training with my team.
SO DAMN AWESOME TO BE BACK.

Got totally dropped off during the warm up (Shit happens). But somehow, it made me really happy. It reminded me of the first session I ever had with the team, around 1 year ago. Got smashed and dropped off by 15 year old girls and I worked and worked till I caught up, started dropping the girls off (i know this sound damn sad. but hey, my team mates are that good alright? serious.) and starting to catch up with the boys and BAM! comes my famous bike crash...

Its ok. I told myself that I will work my way back (again). I know it is unlikely that I will ever catch up with the boys ever again. I know it will take a long time, not forgetting how tough it will be, just for me to run a decent race again.

I ain't throwing in the towels.

Looking at doing a good 10km road race this coming September. With all the help, encouragement and love I have gotten, I might just surprise myself. Who knows? Only way to find out, is to work my ass off NOW.

Totally smashed from today's training at the Lake. Gonna check in to Evolved tomorrow for a tempo run. Just to learn and understand my body more. To make do with what I have left and to start improving from there again.

Just to share something I learnt from training this arvo. We often set boarders for ourselves because it we think that it keeps us "safe", so that we will not be too smashed. We set a running distance or a running pace in our minds even before we attempt to do our very best. I am currently trying to clear all the "limtations", "pace", "restrictions" out of the window and just focus on something really simple. 

Just got to be better than yesterday's me. Concentrate on being BETTER.

Ending off with my favourite phrase...

Nil Sine Labore

another look at the space machine

High tech treadmill yo

Perth Marathon 2014

This is one run that I wanted to do real badly yet this is the one run that I had actually feared.
I have always believed that the marathon is an honest race, you get what you sow. Having only my longest run post injury (21km half marathon) 2 weeks prior, I know I will be battling myself on this day.

I have been taping myself up with RockTape leading up to the race. Many might argue that these "colored tapes" are nothing but placebo. My take, try it to believe it. I was introduced to this particular taping technique "spiral" on my leg as it was previously shown to help kids with cerebal palsy. I gave it a try and found that it helped me alot. Now that I am all taped up, I am ready for the run.

Did some spiral taping on my left leg to prevent the spasms from kicking in. Believe it or not, this works for me.

Using the "spider" technique to recover from the bruise I had a couple of weeks back. Should have done this earlier =x

Before I knew it, the race flagged off and away everyone went. I had a plan this time round. 3 min of running, 2 min of walking and I was seriously determined to stick by it this time round. My girlfriend was my "support team" for the day and it was her very first marathon. She took the exact same footsteps as I did. No 10km race, no 21km race, went straight for gold. Doing a full marathon (42.195km) as her first ever race. Mad, you must be thinking. Daring is what I call it. ha.

All smiles. Because it is finally marathon time again =) 
photo:proflanders

Whenever I walked, people started passing me and no matter how fast I went during the 3 min run, I fell to the back of the pack and I literally meant the back. Last 10 runners maybe? Probably. I started to feel pressured as I had never been so far back ever before and it was probably just 5 km into the race. I felt so stressed that I might be lapped by everyone when they turn around for their 2nd lap. I had no choice but to be discipline and to carry on with my strategy and hope that there are just lots of people who are bad at pacing. Afterall, this is a marathon, its about pacing and knowing yourself. So I told myself to hang on and hope that things will get better in a bit.

As the run continued, I caught a handful of people and I didnt feel that much of a pressure. At about 12ish km, I saw my coach running past me (he started 30mins later) and that actually made me really happy and I told myself to dig deeper and follow through with my plan. Came through the 21km mark at 2:38:40 feeling really fresh and all ready for another 21km. My sessions at Evolved, on the anti-gravity treadmill must have paid off.

Somewhere after the 24 km mark,my girlfriend turned to me.

GF: I knew that the marathon is extremely challenging but never have I expected it to be so tough. My knees are just feeling so smashed right now and my glutes and back are hurting so much. You would have finished this marathon long ago by now if not for this injury right?

I nodded. Smiled a little.
A part of me died when she told me that. What she might not know was the tears behind my Oakleys. I tried to put on a brave front, looked away and I kept going.

The marathon has been such a special race to me. It was the race that suited me the most. A race about consistent hard work, the determination, discipline to push through training daily and most importantly, to have the hunger for the love of pain. I love the pain it gives. I enjoy it so damn much because I know the more pain I feel, the more pain my competitors are feeling too. It all boils down to who has the capacity to tank this all down and to fight through it. I LOVE THIS. At this present moment, not only am I not able to compete, I have lost the ability to run at an intensity that made me felt like my lunges are bursting. If not for this injury.. If not for it, I will probably be doing a sub2:50 at this very same race.

GF: How do you even race through all this pain? This is ... 

Me: By doing 30km on every Sunday before attending Church.

Her jaw dropped.

Me: Yeah. And I had to do the first 25km within 2 hours because that what my coach told me to. I will then finish the last 5km with some hills at King's Park.

My girlfriend went silent for a good few seconds.

GF: no, seriously... ... you are crazy.

I started to feel even worse about my situation. All the hard work.. all the time I spent pounding my body.. the way I have devoted the last 4 years into running.. all gone because of a bike accident. I felt really shitty at this point in time.

Thankfully, I woke up my freaking idea.
If I had not taken up marathon running, I might not have had the will power and determination to come back from such a severe freak accident. It is a miracle how I can regain the ability to walk, let alone started running. The marathoner in me never stopped "running" even when I was paralysed. The love for pain and challenges made me pull through all the therapies and the competitor in me has yet to give up hope on racing. I want to do it again. I want to do another PR. I wanna smash my own marathon timing. I will make it happen. Even if it takes me years. I want to make it happen. I will make sure it happens back in Japan where everything started.

I completed the marathon later feeling surprising good about the situation. 42km worth of talking to myself, talking to God, searching deep within myself to make peace with myself and cried a couple of times during the run (good thing I had my big sunnies). The things a marathon does to one's life. *grin

Post race, I did some recovery taping for my girlfriend and I had lots to think about. Now that I had covered the full marathon, my mind was already thinking of ways for me to get back, to be better, faster, stronger. Mixing and matching all the possibilities of everything I can think of. All the different workouts and drills that I will have to do.
Gotta keep this going. Can't wait to run till my lunges burst, to feel the lactic burn before throwing up. I remember promising myself that IF one day, i ever get to run again, I will give my all, no holding back. No more hiding from the dreadful lactic workouts. I will enjoy it.

Looks like Avatar. heehee

Recovery taping! Pretty nicely done by me eh? *proud*

Trying to go for a good 10km race soon. Gonna challenge myself by stating the standard now.
sub 50 min for 10 km by the end of this year.

Nil Sine Labore
The only person that can give up on me.. is me. And I will never give up.

For sure I enjoyed my run. Hope it feels like flying soon.