CINDY ONG

Covid-19 changed our lives completely.

The life we used to know, where we had so much freedom walking around, running together, socializing and working in an office environment seemed so unreal now. This living in a virtual world seems to be the reality and what life would be like moving forward. I am on Webex or Zoom about three to four times a day!

Living a more restricted life made me realized how this freedom was so often taken for granted.

Working from home may have sounded like a dream for many of us when we were toiling before the circuit breaker. Now that we are working from home, I realized it doesn’t make life any easier. It requires more discipline to be productive. And I really miss the social interactions.

As a matter of fact, training has also become more challenging without any competition goal since all the races have been cancelled for the year. I am also in the midst of considering whether to proceed with the Boston Marathon. They are still deciding but I have until 29 May to make a decision too.

My dilemma lies in the possibility of the organisers deferring all qualifiers who did not decide by 29 May to the next Boston Marathon. We worked very hard to qualify for the race. Everyone wishes to just have a roll over. With no race to work towards, I also find myself having less motivation to train at the same level.

On a positive note, it’s a chance to reset the body. Like the financial markets, the body is correcting itself. Just before the circuit breaker, I was nursing a prolonged injury at my hip flexor. With the circuit breaker, I am running lesser and slower.

I am also doing strength and conditioning workouts and yoga with runners from X-Runners, other groups and following YouTube videos. I am actually feeling quite thankful to have this chance to let my body recover.

My typical schedule now looks somewhat like this (with changes on some days):

• Wake up
• Run/Workout
• Wash up and Breakfast
• Work/Meetings
• Lunch/Rest
• Work/Meetings
• Yoga/Stretch
• Dinner
• Rest and Relax

After getting used to this routine, I am actually feeling slightly reluctant to return to how life was. I feel more in control because I save so much time on traveling and going to a certain location for my runs or workouts. However, I certainly miss the chase with my running friends to keep one another going.

Till the circuit breaker ends, I guess, this is just how life would be, as we know it.

How’s life for you during the circuit breaker?

Injury is every athlete’s nightmare. I am not spared.

I got diagnosed with dengue fever in mid-August. The doctor told me that my fitness level would be affected because my blood palates count would drop. After 10 days’ rest, my doctor told me my blood palates count was stable and I quickly jumped back to training.

Soon, I strained my right hip flexor and glutes. One injury led to another. Eventually, I had to pull out from all my running events and year end key race to focus on recovery, strengthening and conditioning and rebuilding my fitness for Boston Marathon 2020.

There are some things I learnt throughout this period.

• Never take the doctor’s words lightly. There is a reason they have to complete so many years of education. And never underestimate the potency of a mozzie’s kiss.

• Always discuss with your coach (if you have one) before returning to training after falling sick.

• We all know that strength and conditioning is important but we may not have the expertise. I found working with a reliable and knowledgeable strength and conditioning coach to be significant in my progress. My program is a more targeted now.

• Stay positive and be very patient. Recovering from an injury is like watching the stock market. Some days, we see an upward trend and then the chart takes a plunge as a new injury surfaces. It can be very frustrating and there are several “test the legs” days. Ultimately, I take it as a learning opportunity to understand my body better and learn some skills that can benefit me on the long run.

• Be open and accept the reality. An endurance athlete can be very determined and persistent, even in the face of adversity (or injury). Just think of the word “endure”. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. However, we have to recognise and accept that we are human and do get injured. When that happens, just drop all thoughts of competition and focus on recovery!

• Stay happy! Getting injured can be emotional especially when you have to withdraw from key races. Race entry fees are not cheap too! Engaging in alternative sports that makes you feel good and happy such as aqua running and cycling helps to take the mind off the injuries.

I think having an injury is the body highlighting our weaknesses. It gives us the opportunity to build the body so that it can become fitter. Just keep loving the sport!

It was a lovely, chilly morning at 6am. With our headlamps on, four of us were geared and ready for our long distance training in the Cameron Highlands. We had been planning and looking forward to this run.

The run started out easy especially in the cold. We felt positive. There were no cars and no one else. Just us, chatting easily with the sounds of our footsteps on the grounds.

Approximately five minutes into the run, we heard barks from behind us. The barks grew louder and closer. To our horror, there was a pack of about four to five big dogs charging at us.

“Let’s run!” I recalled pulling Nicole’s hand and dragging her with me so we could both speed up. The guys behind us kept up and Edward shouted at the dogs.

I saw a flight of stairs and ran for it, hoping the dogs would carry on forward. They did not. They ran up the steps and slopes after us. I was praying it would not be a dead end. To my relief, it was an open gate! We dashed through it and onto the compound of a convent. We ran all the way to the end and stood there. The dogs stopped chasing. One stood watching us from about 50m away. The rest went off.

Moments later, they came back! This time, with more dogs! The barked and ran towards us. We took flight and barged into the guard’s house. A guard was there. He told us the dogs would not bite. However, we were too afraid to go out. They were there, clearly, for us. So, he went out and shouted at the dogs to go away. They did, much to our amazement!

We waited for a while. He opened the back gate and let us out. We walked briskly back to our apartment. After that, we reflected and googled on ways to cope during stray dogs encounter. Apparently, we did everything that a dog whisperer would frown upon – sped up and shouted at the dogs. We were just lucky we did not become their breakfast.

Here are some of what we should have done.

• Calm down, slow down and walk or even stop – running will encourage a pursuit!

• Try using common commands such as “stop” and “sit”

• Do not look at the dogs’ eyes

• Do not squat down or pretend to pick up something to throw at the dog – this is the surest way to agitate the dogs and get pounced on.

After that morning’s adrenaline rush, hitting a best pace of 3:20min/km for a 450m run in total out of our planned 2-hour run, we decided that it would not be ideal to train in the highlands. We might end up having to keep stopping because there were so many packs of dogs. We might not be that lucky to escape all the time too. Besides, we have not really tried and tested all the recommended tactics.

Life is an adventure, they say. This would definitely be one of the most memorable chapters in our running journey.

Find out more about the X-Runners here: https://www.xrunners-sg.com/