Home Alone

On Tuesday, my darling husband pointed out to me that today is a public holiday here in Hong Kong, and would I mind if him and another dad friend took our boys to Ocean Park?
HELL NO I DON'T MIND!!!
So now I'm sitting here alone, pondering what I should do.
Endless possibility!!!
When I do have this kind of time to myself, I'm never sure whether I should try to pack in as many activities as I can - break out my sewing, sort through my clothes, get a foot massage - all the things that I can't do with a toddler on the loose, or if I should be totally lazy and watch DVDS and read magazines and drink coffee.
It's a tough dilemma!

Remember this book? I know exactly how Mrs Large feels; I long for the day when going to the toilet is once again a solitary pursuit.

*For a different adventure our two renegade boys went on, click here.

Training in the Asian Heat, Racing in the European Cool

For the past four months, I've been slogging it out, running on average about 9 times per week in order to prepare for Berlin Marathon, next Sunday 29 September. Apart from this being the most I've ever run, it's also been the hottest and most humid conditions I've ever trained in. I've spent many nights at the track when it's been 32 degrees Celsius, with 98% humidity. And some days have been even hotter than that. Suffice to say my preparation has been hot and wet.

Racing in Kona; a really hot day

Now, it doesn't take a sports scientist to tell you that this kind of weather will slow you down. And anecdotally, many of my Hong Kong running friends have assured me that for any PBs I run here, I can make an adjustment for about 10-30 seconds per kilometre (30 seconds / km faster brings my 10km time close to 33 minutes! Pretty happy with that!)

What is really interesting though, is that these anecdotes are supported by science. Training in the heat (if not necessarily the humidity), has been likened to the "poor man's altitude training".

To date, there have only been a few studies conducted, and even then on relatively small sample groups of elite athletes. Nonetheless, in brief, the evidence suggests that as the body tries to cool itself, blood is diverted to the skin, which over time leads to increased plasma production and an increased blood supply. Essentially, this is the same result as if you had trained at altitude. Further, as it adapts to the heat, the body becomes more efficient at cooling itself. The conclusion is that, particularly in endurance events, you are likely to stay comfortable for longer.

However, there are limits to these benefits. Any gains made by heat training may be void or even have a negative impact if you plan on racing in extremely cold temperatures. Further, because of the limited nature of the studies, it's difficult to say whether it's worthwhile for recreational runners to jump on the treadmill in all their winter gear. (I've tried this and trust me, I'm not sure it's worthwhile, if for no other reason than I felt like a fool and looked like an idiot.)

Nonetheless, as far as this sample size of one goes, I'm willing to believe, and put this research to the test; the forecast for Berlin next weekend is about 4-17 degrees celsius, so compared to Hong Kong, the conditions seem idyllic. No excuses for not running a PB then!

For more info, check out this study conducted at the University of Oregon in 2012, and this study conducted by the University of Otago.

See also The New York Times and Runners World.

Creating family traditions

Now that I am a proper grown up and have my own family, it seems to me to be important to create our own traditions.
In that spirit, this is the new and decadent tradition that Henry and I have created;
On our trips to into town, on our way home, Henry and I stop by my favourite macaroon shop in the world - Pierre Herme - and get a small box of macaroons.
The real trick is to eat at least one each on the ferry on the way home. You each get to choose one, (Henry usually chooses "yellow" because that is his favourite colour) but then you have to give a little bite to the other person to try - so you get to try at least two flavours (more if you go back for seconds).
Yum!
(Though when I worked out how much each macaroon costs, I was horrified at how spoilt my son is.)

     

Peng Chau Adventure Day

As an expat, I often feel that I should get out and experience all the great things that Hong Kong has to offer. Indeed, one of my favourite things about Hong Kong is that it is so diverse; before we moved, a friend told me that you could do and try everything you want here, albeit on a smaller scale. There are so many more opportunities and adventures to be had than if you'd just stayed at home.
So far this experience for me has proved to be true.
Nonetheless, it is still rather easy to slip into a routine and never get outside of that.
And so, Henry and I have developed the concept of "Adventure Days!"
We even have a song that we sing when we are getting ready for the aforementioned events;

"Adventure, adventure we're going on an adventure.
Adventure, adventure, we're going to have some fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!"
(This is a song best accompanied with clapping and arm waving, and Henry has coined the phrase "Funventure" which we use an an abbreviation.)

And so yesterday was Adventure Day to Peng Chau.

We were both very excited to catch the "other ferry" as Henry calls it. It takes about 10 minutes from Discovery Bay. But be aware, it left about 5 minutes earlier than scheduled! It was lucky we arrived early!

As far as adventure days go, it was fun and interesting. Here are some of the highlights;

1. Waiting for the "other ferry"; my first mum fail of the day. Right after I took this photo, Henry fell off the pylon he was balancing on, and hit the cement. He wasn't so happy.
You can see the "other ferry" coming into dock. With its open engine room, and open deck, it certainly has much more of a "adventuring" feel. Definitely made us feel much more intrepid and that we were branching out into the unknown!

2.  Mum fail #2; Shortly after this photo, I allowed Henry to kneel up on the seats and look out over the water, mainly in order to get a good photo. He could potentially have fallen in (though probably not). In my head, I was telling myself that I still remembered enough from my Bronze medallion training when I was 16, should my skills be required - trying to justify my actions.
I'm sure it was karma. There were no good photos, but at least he didn't fall.

3. The next highlight was when Henry went up to this bird, and said "Pleased to meet you!" Then blew it a kiss and put his arms out for a cuddle. 

4. Peng Chau certainly felt a lot more classic "Chinese" (Adventure Day success!); it had little winding streets with power-lines everywhere, and shops selling plastic junk. However, it was without the chaos of the mainland, and the fish market was indoors and the fish were kept refrigerated! Refrigerating raw meat is not otherwise a particularly Chinese concept.

5. We almost had lunch at this restaurant; This is clearly what I've been missing my whole life!

6. The final mum fail of the day, was during lunch. Of course we had to eat dim sum and it was pretty good, and super cheap. However, obviously I did not blow enough on the steaming hot dumplings that my starving child put whole into his mouth. Of course he screamed.
There was a lovely old Chinese lady that kept giving us tissues, showed Henry how to use a toothpick to stab his dumpling, and even went and found a fork for him. During the hot dumpling debacle, she suggested that the cure for a burnt mouth was to eat sugar. And so it came about that the restauranteur presented us with a bowl of sugar for Henry to consume. The crying stopped very quickly after Henry starting licking straight sugar from my chopsticks. Fail!

Note, in the last photo, you can see the white bowl in the middle of the other dishes. That is the sugar bowl. I do not recommend feeding it straight to your toddler in order to be polite to kind strangers. It DOES NOT make for a GREAT trip home!