Milestone Number 2 (and a bit of retail therapy)

I did my first hour-long run in a very long time today. It hurt like hell towards the end, but managed not to wimp out and stop when my legs were begging me to just stay still at about 55min, so I'm pretty chuffed. And it was week of three x 3 - seems like I'll manage to keep going, whoo! I'm celebrating with bread, cheese and some yummy but very oily salami I found in the big supermarket yesterday. Quite a find in Asia! Not the healthiest of post-run meals, but my Nike+ thingy said I burned almost 700 calories, so I suppose I deserve it. And maybe a beer later too.

So, runs for this week:

Tuesday - 3.72k, 22:37 continuous running

Thursday - 6.14k, 38:50 5min run, 90sec walk, runs a bit faster

Sunday - 9.48k, 1:00:06 (just made it!) 5.5min run, 90 walk

Total - 19.35k, 2:01:22, av pace 6:16/k

And I'm also only 6k away from green on Nike+! Next run should do it I think - there'll definitely be a beer or two to celebrate that.

But far more importantly, I decided to go treat myself to some new running gear yesterday - I've been running in the same shorts and vest since I got here in September! I live fairly close to a huge supermarket/department store called Lotte Mart - it's a bit of a monstrosity, but at least it has a bit of sports clothing in addition to all the other crap (a safe with a picture of puppies on the front anyone?). There's the usual Nike and Adidas, but mostly tennis clothes, or things that would be far too warm to wear outside, and a tiny bit of New Balance. I confused the shop girls by actually wanting to try things on I think! Or maybe it was the armful of shirts that I took in with me. Anyway, found that all the sizings were Asian sizes, not normal sizes, so had to go get a load more bigger ones. Cue more confusion and giggles. I ended up with a plain New Balance vest - says it's ultrawick, but it's a bit warmer than the one I usually run in, and a pair of men's New Balance shorts. All the girl ones were tiny! Doll-sized even, and I am most definitely not doll-sized. I like these ones though, very airy, and very light. The Nike ones were quite thick, and a bit restrictive. And the colour matches my top much better, which is obviously far more important!

Here, you look!

I would like to point out that the weird way I'm standing is because I couldn't really fit me in the midget-height mirror we have, not because I have a freakishly twisted pelvis!

My legs hurt. Whimper!