Oh well.

I guess I should admit to myself - yes, it looks highly unlikely that I will be running the Boston Marathon. A ton of apologies to everyone who donated - I really appreciate your support, and I am very sorry that I will not be able to live up to my end of the deal this year. I definately will be running next year, though. So if you would like me to return the donations, just drop me an email at i n o c u l a t t e [at] g m a i l, sans spaces, plus .com. Although, I will be asking you next year :) On on.

Of Crutches and Ultimatums

First off, I must admit that me going to the Boston Marathon is looking more and more unlikely. Until five days ago, I was on the list of selected runners - we have to shortlist people because there are just too many who want to run, and not enough spaces. And then, they realised that a) I was a freshman, and b) bigger seniors were kicking up a fuss because they wouldn't get to run. Don (the PMC coach) was really kind and apologetic about it, and I understand where he's coming from. I don't want to put him in a spot by insisting I run, and I suppose it's all for the best since I'm injured anyways. Final decision on Thursday, because they're submitting the names by end January. We'll see.

Speaking of my injury, Nick (the sports medicine guy) gave me an ultimatum: if the hip still hurts, you're going on 24-hour crutches. Which, needless to say, sucks. I really don't want to go back on crutches, especially considering that Tufts is on a hill and my dorm is on top of aforementioned hill. And, of course, the sports facilities are at the very bottom of said hill.

On the plus side, it's snowing! On the downside, it's snowing! See, snow is a marvellous thing for a tropical hamster like me. Little fluttery snowflakes are the most fascinating thing in the world. However I'll probably only enjoy it for the first foot or so. After that it's likely to be a nuisance. Especially if I have crutches.

Of Injury and Seniority

After my session at the sports trainers, they determined I've pulled my hip flexor. I have no idea how, only that it hurts really bad. So they gave me ice and stim treatment, as well as ultrasound to break up the scar tissue. The result: it hurt like billy-o the next day. Really badly. But I have to keep up the treatment for the rest of the week, and hopefully with the swimming I'm doing I won't regress too badly. It's supremely frustrating to be unable to run, but therein lies the danger I guess - impatience. I have scores of friends who have recurrent injuries due to impatience - in fact, I have a few myself. So there's nothing for it but to wait, I guess.

Yet another frustrating thing - I may not get to run due to me being a lowly freshman (aka grub). Since some of the seniors are on the waitlist, and this is their last year, it's entirely possible that I'll be put on the waitlist so they can take my place. Funds-wise, this isn't a problem - the funds I raised can be used for next years run, if it comes to that. It's just somewhat disappointing, even if I've no problems with the reason. I'm seeing coach today to sort this out, will let everyone know how it goes :)

Back In Boston

Wow, I'm back in Boston and it is COLD. currently -10ºC out there, so I'm not heading out yet. Was supposed to join the Tufts marathon group for a run today, but didn't because 1) they were training at 7am, and I have no spandex to run in i.e. I will freeze, and 2) am not feeling too good. It's probably the change in weather - coming from Singapore with it's average of 26ºC/80ºF to Boston with it's average of -5ºC over the next 6 days cannot be good for anyone.

In any case, the summary of my exercise in Singapore would be: a week of running, followed by a lot of pain and water exercise and crunches. I will be (hopefully) seeing the sports trainer in half-an-hour, so maybe I will be able to figure out what is wrong with my hip. It still hurts, even while walking.

But while the Singapore leg of the training was not as great as I had hoped it would be, the Singapore leg of the fundraising was supremely heartening. Many, many, MANY thanks to the wonderful people of the Singapore Hash House Horrors, particularly the Joosas! When they heard that I was running the Boston Marathon and was raising money, they did not hesitate to offer me the chance to take advantage of the fact that they were organising a run to raise funds. So I got 25 bandanas (courtesy of the Joosas) embroidered at the army market at Beach Road (urban legend has it that what with all the spare parts you have there, you can make your own machine gun), and they looked like this:



The Hash run was, as all Hash runs end up in this weather, wet and muddy. Although I squelched through the water with some trepidation as the Tufts cross country team suffered terrible rashes the last time they ran through water, the whole thing was fun. I even have photos!


Natalie, Sijmon and Ella enjoying a bandana split! Sorry, I couldn't help it…


The Laraia boys + Uncle Slime (aka Virginia Slim)…


…who gracefully sprawled on his car, since it matched the color of his bandana.


Uncle Funny was enjoying himself.


So did the kids, who were playing "Traffic Light".


Hash was quite fun :) good times. Now for sports medicine man.

Of Podiatrists, Pain, And Perpetual Rain

First off, a big shout-out to Eugene, Aunty Virginia, JJ, TJ and Joe, who have all been wonderful donors :) I loves them very much.

So I haven't been posting much, thanks to a combination of inadvertant saved drafts, hanging laptops and just plain bad luck. In any case, on to more pertinent things, like the amazing weather.

It has been incessantly raining for the past few days, great gouts of it. Perhaps the weather was good for about 3 days, from Saturday to Monday, but after that it has been back to the usual pattern of reclaiming the land by air drop. So evidently, this has not helped the training program much.

What also has not helped the training program is the pain in my hip. After seeing my podiatrist (after a lapse of 5 years), he diagnosed that I have hypersensitive feet, so all those wearing of 4-inch high heels for all those formal dos when I got back was a Bad Idea since that managed to damage some of the nerves in my feet. of course, that meant that when I went running I had to overcompensate for it and as a result, I managed to pull my hip flexor. So running has been relatively out of the question; even walking can be painful. So far all I have been able to do is water running and swim and crunches, which, while still exercise, isn't quite the same. But no worries! I will overcome! Yarr.

The Inaugural Post

Well, I figured I should finally get off my lazy bum to start this blog. Hopefully, this will be a blog where I can let the world know how well I'm progressing on my training (barely OK, weather permitting) and more importantly let my wonderful awesome donors know that I actually am working for their donations. Yes, despite my lazy bum. Hopefully, this will also be a blog where I will be persuaded to use proper capitalisation. I refuse to commit to either British or American spelling, because spell checking takes time and besides, if you understand what I'm trying to write, that's better than many posters out there anyways....

And why not hamster? Okay, there are hamster references everywhere because manymanymanymany people I know say I look like one. Or behave like one. While I'm pretty sure I'm not inclined to scuttle around looking like a furry Ferrari and getting stuck under the couch, enough people have told me this that I'm starting to wonder...

Anyways. For those who don't quite know, yes I will be attempting to run the 111th Boston Marathon, all 42.2 km/26.2 miles of it. Theoretically, to qualify I have to prove I can run a marathon in 3h 40mins, which might be hard seeing as the furthest I've every run "competitively" was the Standard Chartered Half-Marathon in Singapore about 2 years ago. So I decided to run in support of my university's Friedman School Of Nutrition Science and Policy. This means that while I don't have to meet the qualifying time (which is somewhat insane for me), I do have to raise US$1,000 for the Friedman School (which is slightly more achievable).

Hint, hint. *grin*

Soooo....if you would like to find out more about the Tufts Presiden'ts Marathon Challenge, head on over to www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com. Or if you are so utterly enthralled with my sales pitch (it was the hinting, of course, you can donate online. If you want to send a cheque or donate money, I'm currently in the process of working out how I can get money from Singapore to the US, so I'll let you know. Although I do know that you can make out the cheque to "Trustees of Tufts College", but that's unfortunately about it. Maybe you could donate a dollar per kilometer run :) That would make it $42. Or even 50 cents. Or even $50. You never know.

AND, you can check out my little corner of the web at http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/sonia! I'll be mostly updating this blog, but we shall see if I can be bothered to link the two. I probably will, at some point. After I get out from under the couch.