Welcome to our podcast, The Why in the 20s.
My name is Viv.
And I'm Nat.
We are two counselors in our mid-20s navigating our adulthood away from our home country, exploring
the why questions we encounter relating to relationships, identities, and uncertainties.
So whether you're listening to our podcast while going for your walk or doing your chores,
welcome on board and let the journey begin.
Alrighty welcome back to another episode of The Why in your 20s.
How's everyone going?
How are you going Viv?
How's your week?
Actually this week has not been bad.
A lot of stuff happened.
You want to share what's up?
Not really.
Actually, not really, but then every day I had something to do.
So it's kind of productive.
I would say a bit more productive helping out with the exams where we had to do role
plays with counseling students.
So playing the client, it was really inspiring because a lot of them were very mature, very
skilled.
So I really enjoyed that.
I used a few different stories, but there were quite a lot of students so that it got
repeated and just using the same stories, you can see how they respond.
And it's very interesting the way that they go and how they show empathy, how they reflect.
It was just amazing.
Aww I'm so glad.
I'm glad you enjoyed, but I'm glad how they are doing so well as well.
Yeah exactly.
I feel like they did better than me when I was at that period.
Especially first year, like you basically know nothing and it's all very new and don't
even know what counseling is.
Well kind of, but like...
I mean at least for us, I didn't know what counseling is.
Not well at least.
I think I wouldn't know until I actually go on placement and start seeing clients.
I think that's the beginning of the journey I would say.
It's the first year, so they're still developing that skill and it's more about the basic skills.
Confidentiality, how you welcome the client, like that rapport building, which is very
important as well.
I think sometimes I already forgot, when I see clients I just jump straight into it.
It's very important to explain the confidentiality and stuff, but yeah.
I'm glad you have a productive week.
Yeah that was my week.
How was yours?
I think mine is a bit stressed.
I'm not gonna lie, a lot.
I think work started getting a bit more hectic.
Not hectic, but like I moved on the honeymoon phase, so now I'm more hands on and got more
clients and get the ball rolling.
So it's not like me sitting there and not doing anything.
Finally I got something to do.
So I really need to be careful what I wish for.
But maybe it's just a phase.
Sometimes there's more stuff, sometimes it's less stuff.
And we are moving towards the end of the year as well.
So things can get a little bit hectic, but just trying to adjust my lifestyle and get
used to it.
But I do see some signs of burnout, so I think there's some alarming.
Yeah, like recognizing those symptoms.
Yeah.
Honestly, I can see you being stressed as well.
If work starts to pick up, you have more clients, you have to pay attention to your own well-being.
Yes, absolutely.
But I do think the good side is I like both jobs.
So even though I feel tired, I don't feel dragged to work.
I think there's a difference in it as well.
If that starts to happen, it's something that you really have to deal with it.
Yeah.
From the very beginning.
Yeah, exactly.
I think now it's more because it's winter in Australia as well.
So I struggle to wake up.
Oh, right.
I just want to stay in my bed.
But that's a different story.
Like if it's just solely because it's cold, if the fact that it's because you don't want
to go to work.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Then it's a different matter.
I don't know.
Like I just hope summer can come sooner because when I wake up, the sun has even rise.
Oh, yeah, because you have to catch an early train.
Yeah.
That's so sad.
I can see the sunrise as good, but just hard makes it harder to wake up if the sun is not
there.
Yeah, I definitely agree.
But anyway, we both have productive.
I do have very unfaithful, very unfaithful.
We.
Yeah, very.
Oh, we forgot to mention one thing.
We did a half marathon last week.
Yeah.
Yes.
I feel like I'm finally over with running.
I'm so glad.
Really?
Yeah, I'm actually the opposite.
I kind of want to run not like long, but like a shorter, like 5K or even less 3K.
Have you ran after the marathon?
I know you should do a recovery run on Monday because we did the half marathon on Sunday.
So then it's good to move your muscles.
Yeah.
So I did a recovery run on Monday and ran a 3K.
How was that?
My muscles were okay, but I can feel the physical tiredness, especially with helping out with
the role plays.
So is it more like you're mentally tired or you can feel your muscle is tired?
Oh, it's both.
It's definitely both.
I think I was really tired the first few days.
I don't know.
Is it because of running or is it because of my period as well?
So I was like really tired, but oh, I'm so glad.
I did not because I'm so tired.
I know you sent me the message.
I'm like, oh, that sounds a good idea, but no.
I was scared that my muscle will start hurting like on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The more I rest, my muscle pain will come and I wanted to prevent that.
Well before we dive into further deeper, maybe we should start telling the audience why we
start.
Yeah.
So personally, I really hate running.
I don't know why.
Actually, I don't know why I joined the half marathon.
There wasn't much reason for me to join.
I think it's a bit different for me and you.
What I can remember is you told me that you wanted to join the half marathon and I was
like, oh yeah, sure.
Because I never say no.
Most of the time I don't say no.
So I was like, yeah, sure.
And I just hope that the other person will forget.
Unfortunately, not this time.
So when we were about to say yes, like actually pay for it, I was like, okay.
Like if you do it, I do it.
I was betting on the fact that you might not do it.
You might back out.
Now, because I have done several half marathon before, so to me, it's definitely an easier
thing to get back to it because I kind of stopped running for two, three years.
So before COVID.
Yeah, before COVID.
And then once COVID hit, I think that's just a lot of things happened in my life that I
kind of not prioritizing running.
So I kind of stopped and I always know I have the ability to complete one.
It's just a matter of whether you have that courage or you have that sort of, okay, I
want to get back to running and start the training.
So to me, it's very different than for someone like you that haven't run before.
It's definitely more challenging.
Yeah, I don't think I would have signed up if it was just me.
I would definitely not.
Like I said, I hate running.
Like running is definitely not my thing.
I was secretly hoping that you would fall in love in running.
I thought so too.
Yeah.
I was hoping.
I was hoping for that.
Because I actually passed with one of my friends a few years ago to do a half marathon with
me and then she ended up falling in love in running and she's now a triathlon and she's
now like, I even go back to her and ask for advice when we are practicing the half marathon
recently.
And I secretly hoping that babe that you would fall in love in running and actually do more
of it outside the race instead of just running for the race.
I would say, Oh, I would definitely continue running, but it's mainly because I think it's
healthy to move around and it forces me to move around as well.
My perspective on running, it did change.
Like I used to hate it.
Okay.
But then now it's just like, fine.
I'll do it.
Like I'm not much different.
It's something that I can tolerate now.
Back then I would be like, no, like if anyone asked me to go out for a short run, I would
say no.
But then now I can tolerate it.
Okay.
So there is a change in it.
It's just not, it's just, I don't love it.
Which I kind of foresee already.
Yeah.
You kind of can tell it's not your thing.
It's definitely not my thing, but I would continue cause it's something healthy and
just keeps me moving.
Will you consider other sports to keep you active instead of running?
Oh, I love sports.
It's just most of the sports that I like, I don't like playing it by myself.
And there's no, I think it's just because I'm not motivated enough to find that community
and continue playing that sport.
Yeah.
It can be tricky sometimes.
So we can dive deeper in how our whole journey was.
I can share first.
I think I started way earlier prior to we paid for the race.
I think I kind of start in February and just start running like shorter distance.
I kind of have it recorded on my Strava.
I think I run a few times last year as well, but I can count in five fingers.
So I started in January.
You know, usually January is like new year, new me kind of thing.
I always wanted to get back to running.
It's just when I live in my previous accommodation, it's very healy.
I know it's excuses, but it's very difficult.
It's not running friendly.
If my friend Dana hear this, she'll be really mad.
She'll be like, when there's a road, there's a route.
That's true.
I agree.
So I still want to use that excuse.
It's very healy.
It lowered the motivation to run.
It's more tiring.
It's not tiring.
It's more challenging.
So it's more acceptable that I didn't start.
No, actually don't go there.
Anyway, so I moved to this new place last year and I live next to the river.
So it's really nice.
So I actually start in January.
I ran 1k and I died.
I'm like, no, this is too difficult.
I ran again in end of February because by then I feel like, okay, I need to start running
because I'm planning to join this race.
I ran 2k and I died again.
And then slowly, oh, actually the next run is I ran with you.
The 5k one.
That was after we paid.
Yes, that was after we paid.
Because I started running after we paid.
Sometimes they really need that motivation is like, oh, this is real.
It's just us being cheap.
Because the super early bird, is that what you're saying?
Yeah.
No, I wouldn't pay for normal price and it gives you more time to train as well.
It does.
It really does.
Anyway, so I think I'm running like 2 and 5k until April that I start to run a bit longer,
like 6k, 8k.
And one of the captions that I put on Strava is I could not locate my lungs after running
6k.
So dramatic.
But I think one thing I realized is so interesting is it motivates me when you send me your progress
as well.
That is something that we kind of hesitated.
We stumbled upon that strategy while we were recording one of these episodes.
Yeah.
And I was kind of overthinking, I'm like, oh, should I send it to Viv because she might
feel pressured or stressed out that she needs to run more, or she might feel like we are
comparing and I run faster or she run faster.
And I overthink a lot.
So I didn't send it to her.
And apparently, I thought the same as well.
I think for me, definitely the main thing is the competition.
I was scared that you think I was competing with you, which I definitely was not.
I just want to finish my race, to be fair.
Yeah, I feel like it's very motivating.
I wouldn't run, like in April, I wouldn't run 8k or 10k.
I wouldn't push myself further if you didn't send me the progress.
And sometimes when I really don't feel like running, when you send that, I'm like, okay,
I shouldn't procrastinate.
I should go for a run.
Sometimes you just need that accountability and kind of push you and...
Just motivate us.
Yeah.
And sometimes Strava works the same way because when you post on Strava, I don't have a lot
of friends on Strava, but you kind of feel like someone is watching you as well.
Even I don't think anyone cares.
But yeah, I do think it kind of helps when I post my progress and kind of motivate me
to run more.
So that's just the beginning of my journey.
Is yours similar?
Yeah, I think similar.
I think even from the beginning of last year, I wanted to run a bit more.
But it wasn't the length.
I wanted to run more frequently and honestly that did not work.
Maybe it will last for one week and it just stops because I'm lazy.
Before paying for it, we were talking about, oh, maybe we should do the half marathon.
So I tried running a bit more and every time it was just 3k runs and I could not push myself
to do a bit more.
Even 3.5, I could not push myself to do that.
But after paying for it, it really gives me the motivation.
I don't want to waste my money.
So I started running, actually immediately the day after we paid for it, I ran for 6k.
And it was not too hard, I would say.
Yes, the speed was not the best, but I could push myself to run 6k.
It was definitely the money.
After a week, I told my dad about it and he told me just increase a bit more every time
you run.
And honestly, I know that.
It's just, I don't want to because it's tiring.
So he told me that, oh, every week you just increase 2k.
So get used to the length of it.
So in April, I started running 8k.
Every week, I would say, oh, I will run 3 8ks per week.
And then the others is like, if you don't want to run, it's okay.
So after 8k, I think I sent it to you.
That's when you started running longer runs.
Yeah, because I was struggling to, I was kind of stuck in that 5k threshold.
It is hard though.
It is hard too, because you're comfortable with 5ks and I was comfortable with 3k.
So it's really hard to push yourself to run a bit more.
Yeah.
And I think that's another layer on top for myself is I used to run 8k very easily or
10k.
And to me feeling my body that I can't even do 5k, I can feel a little bit disappointment
on my body.
I'm like, am I getting older now that I can't even run longer?
That may be true.
You are older than three years ago.
Yes, absolutely.
But yeah, I do feel like it's a 5k is like a mark that is very hard to cross.
And it's interesting to hear that after you pay, you can immediately run 6k.
I think that's so it's, I think for that is more the mentality part.
Yeah, which requires a lot.
We are only half marathon.
Were there any challenges that stood out to you during your quote unquote training?
Because I wouldn't say we were actually training for it.
I think even when I start the race, I'm not confident that we can do great in a race.
But I do have experienced challenges.
I think I write down on Strava.
One day I wrote didn't feel like running today and still don't feel like running afterwards.
But it's one point to self discipline and I'm proud of myself.
And that's the day that I ran 10k.
And some days you just don't feel like running.
So the main challenge is more the motivation in starting that run.
Yes, it's like the motivation of stepping out of your house.
Actually, I would say changing.
Changing.
Yes, exactly.
I don't know if that would help.
But when three years ago when I was running, I usually ran with my friends, I would literally
wear my sports clothes to go to bed.
I tried that once.
Does it work?
It did.
But it only worked once.
After that, I tried going to bed with my sports clothes.
Nope, it didn't.
You can do it occasionally, but not you can't solely rely on that.
But it does help me a bit, especially winter.
Geez, it's cold.
Anyway, yeah, that's motivation is one of the challenges that I have experienced.
What about you?
I think the motivation was a bit challenging, especially during winter.
I just didn't want to change.
So during the day when I'm a bit more motivated, I was like, okay, I'm going to run tonight
because I usually run during the evenings.
And during noon or whatnot, when I feel like I'm very motivated that I have to run, I would
change first.
And then I wait till the time that I feel like, okay, like 5pm, that's the latest.
I have to go run.
And then I'll go run.
It really did help.
I think just changing in the day and then running at night, it really motivated me to
you have to run because you wasted your energy and changing.
And one other thing is having housemates.
I think because my housemates know that I signed up for the half marathon, I feel like
maybe not the best way of thinking, but I feel like I owe it to them that I have to
run.
And it shows my dedication.
It shows my determination towards the goal that I have.
It's almost like I'm proving myself to them while they didn't ask for it.
No, but if it acts as a motivation, it works for you, then that's all that matters.
So I think most of the time is whenever they come home from work, that's when I go out
because it's like, okay.
Someone is watching you.
Yeah, someone is watching me.
That's how I overcome that hurdle in not being motivated to go out for a run.
Yeah.
I think you remember one time when I get off work and then you suddenly text me, I really
don't want to run today.
And I'm like, same.
I don't want to run.
That really worked.
Yeah.
I was still wearing my work clothes.
I haven't changed yet.
I was just sitting there and procrastinating and don't want to run because I came home
around 5.36.
So the later you run, the colder it is.
It's really dark anyway, so it doesn't make a difference.
It will be really cold once it reaches, I think 7pm.
So I saw, I was literally going to give up.
I was not going to run.
I saw your text saying, I don't want to run.
And I'm like, yeah, I don't want to run.
I replied, oh, I don't want to run.
But then now because we bring this topic up, okay, maybe we can go for an easy run because
we are planning to do a long run.
Yeah.
We were going to do eight or 10k run.
Yeah.
So you let's do a short run.
Is it 3k or 5k?
5k.
And it's like, oh, it's so cold.
I'm like, yeah, I don't want to.
And then while I'm replying, I start changing.
Same.
And then, okay, we will do a short run.
So we actually did.
I think that is.
It really helps so much.
Yeah.
I think if you didn't send me that text, I wouldn't go for run.
Really me sending you that text, I was really asking for permission.
If you say you're going to stay home and not go run outside.
Okay, good.
That means I can just stay home.
I was really asking for permission.
I think I know you're asking for permission and I'm kind of hoping that you say yes to,
but then on the other hand, I feel like, I think maybe because it's very close to the
race day, I feel like if it's not today.
There's no other day that we can go run.
Yes, it will be the same tomorrow.
It will be this cold, even colder.
But yeah, I think that really works.
I think that's not what I've expected, but it works anyway towards the end.
Yeah.
So other than the motivation part, another very evident challenge that I faced was hurting
my ankle.
The experience was horrible because I could really feel that limitations of my body and
I really didn't like it.
I tried to push it.
So even when my ankle was hurting, I was running 10K for each run.
So I ran three 10Ks for one week.
It was still okay.
It wasn't too bad.
I could still manage it.
And then next week, three 12Ks.
It was still alright.
Not horrible, but it was starting to hurt a bit more.
And I felt like, okay, I am doing okay.
Like my physical strength is building up and it was, it really was.
So the third week, I did one 14K.
It was just horrible.
It was, it was really bad in the sense where I couldn't really walk home because I usually
leave around 100 meters so I can walk home.
It was horrible.
It was so hard walking home.
I was limping when I was taking off my shoes.
It was really painful.
And you only told me a week later.
Yeah, I didn't, I didn't tell anyone.
When coming back, I didn't tell my housemates.
I waited for like a few days.
I thought it would heal itself and it did to a certain extent, but it was still hurting.
I tried going another 14K, but at two to three K, it was just horrible.
I could not persevere.
Yeah, I really couldn't.
My body was at its limitations.
And I think because you're running a lot of long runs as well, like doing three 10Ks a
weekend and another three 12K per week, I think that kind of worn out your body as well.
Yeah, it did.
So after I recognized that, okay, I cannot run that much, I rested for a week-ish.
After that was just like, I could feel my body not getting used to runs anymore.
It was not the physical side, honestly.
It was my mental side where I wasn't at the place where I wanted to be.
Like the whole week that I kept running after resting for one to two weeks, I was trying
to run at least 5K, 7K, and I just couldn't.
I was just very tired.
So most of the runs I gave up.
Even though I feel that my ankle was actually okay, not too bad.
I just gave up.
And what do you think that changed that mentality?
I think it's just disappointing in knowing that your body has its limitations.
Maybe it's because I don't want to hurt my ankle again or hurt other parts of my
body, which makes it even worse.
But part of it is that I wasn't running according to my schedule, to my expectations.
And I feel I let myself down.
So there's some inflexibility around, this is not going to your plan.
Is this counseling talk going on?
I'm sorry.
Yeah, so it's mainly about that.
Yes.
You should think it's my first time hearing that.
Yeah.
It was very hard to overcome, but it was just very near towards the race day that I just
had to run.
I think we are both anxious as well that we're not going to make it to the race.
I was more concerned about your ankle as well that I'm like, okay, go for shorter runs.
Just let it rest until the race day.
But yeah, definitely the closer to the race day, the anxiety around not training enough.
Or over training.
And that is scary as well.
Yeah.
Did you get injured before the race?
I did have a week that my knees was hurting.
I think I wrote it down as well.
I wrote down, knees need some rest.
And a skull emoji.
I think because I was planning to run 12K that day, I ended up doing 8K.
And actually a few days ago, I was planning to run 5K and I stopped at 1.4K.
My body is not feeling it.
I think because by then I already knew your ankle was hurting.
So I'm more conscious on my body as well.
If I feel something is wrong, I should pause and rest and that's okay.
So I'm kind of glad and not glad that that happened to you because that reminds me as
well.
I should pay more attention to my body as well.
So I did have that one week where my knees is feeling a bit weird.
And then I rest for a week and then I ran 12K in a really good speed.
So I think that one week of resting is very important to me.
But actually the week that you rested, I rested as well, right?
I felt less pressure to have to immediately go for a run because you weren't sending
in your progress.
And this is my concern sometimes as well when I'm sending you progress and I know you need
the rest, you should rest.
Yeah, I don't think I would feel guilty, but I think I would blame my body.
It's just so many limitations.
I would not, I would still not push myself to run at that time because I really couldn't.
But it's really disappointing.
It's like, especially when you said like there are goals, like you wanted to run 5K, but
you only ran 1.5K or 12K, but you only ran 8K.
Like those runs, it happens to me a lot.
And you're just so disappointed with yourself.
You set a goal for yourself, but you didn't meet it.
And those runs demotivate me from running the next day.
So I guess being flexible on our goals is very important as well.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, the ultimate goal is obviously to finish the half marathon.
I think the thing is giving yourself permission to stop when you need it.
Yes, that is very important.
Yeah.
So those were some of the challenges that we faced.
It's more about the motivation, getting injured, being inflexible and all that.
Some of the challenges that we faced when we were preparing for the half marathon.
And after the half marathon, very interesting that one of our friends, she asked us, were
there any lessons that we learned from the whole journey itself?
Do you want to share your answer?
My answer is actually quite ridiculous because I didn't charge, well, I did charge my phone
the day before, but I think I did just didn't plug in well, that I just didn't charge.
So when I woke up, it's only 10% left.
I was kind of sad that morning because I really want to record on Strava, but then I kind
of need my phone for safety reason or to contact my friends afterwards.
So the lesson that I learned is to buy a new phone.
Actually thinking back, maybe you should buy smart wash as well.
I don't like to wear wash, especially I have eczema.
It's not that good for my skin as well.
But for running, it's very nice.
Like, you know your pace, you know your heartbeat, you know everything.
Yeah, I know.
Maybe I need to buy a new watch now.
Anything else?
I think just in general, prep way ahead.
Because I was talking to one of my friends, she's also my coach.
She kind of not scold me, but like kind of pointed out saying, hey, because I was asking
her questions around, should I get this gel, what should I eat before the race?
The day before.
The day before the race.
And she's like, these kind of things you should actually prepare way ahead while training,
not the last day before the race.
So I think that's a lesson that I learned as well.
It's not just before the race, but plan ahead.
If you want to use the gel, try it during your training.
I agree.
I really agree.
Side story.
So Nat wanted to get the gel and she told me to get two for her.
So I was like, okay, then I'll get two for myself as well.
And she recommended it.
She recommended it to me that, oh, maybe I should get it for myself as well.
But what she didn't tell me is that her coach told her that if you're not used to it, if
it's your first time, it might upset your stomach and you might get diarrhea.
She didn't tell me this.
And I'm sorry.
Because I hide it on purpose because I know Viv is those people that will never rely on
other things unless she needed.
And especially with her knee and ankle, leg injuries, I really hope that she can finish
the race.
And I do feel like the gel would help her.
I do feel like that too.
So when my coach told me, I'm like, maybe I shouldn't tell Viv because if I told her,
she would not get it.
And she got one less tools to support her to finish the race.
Fast forward, I got the two gels.
I had it at 12 and 16 K around those distance where there was water station.
Right after the race, five minutes in, not kidding, five minutes in, I already felt like,
oh, my stomach, it's hurting.
I thought it was because right after the race, I had half a banana.
It might be.
Bananas don't upset my stomach.
It just helps me poop.
It helps with the digestion and everything.
But my stomach was so upset.
Yeah, my stomach was very upset.
I had to immediately find a restroom.
But even walking was very hard.
It wasn't because of the muscle pain or anything.
It was because my stomach was very upset.
I was.
You were.
Your muscles were painful, but mine wasn't.
Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing right now.
It was very challenging for me to walk because my stomach was painful.
Long story short, I had diarrhea.
It's really funny.
Sorry, that was a side story.
No, but that's really funny.
I feel like if I can choose again, I will still choose to hide from you.
But I wouldn't.
I mean, I wouldn't not get it because it might upset my stomach.
But that's the thing we discussed.
If I told you there's a chance of diarrhea, you might be more conscious about it and you
might even feel earlier during the race.
That is true.
I don't know.
But we never know.
Yeah, we'll never know.
And it's something that you took away from me.
The power of choosing.
That's hilarious.
But that's the lesson that I learned is to plan ahead, to give yourself some time because
I was literally going to buy new shoes, running shoes the day before as well.
Actually, that's a very good lesson.
And the last one was buying a new pair of shoes.
Yeah, just spend more money.
No, but the lesson of planning ahead, that's very important as well, I would say.
Mine is a bit different.
I would agree planning ahead as well because the day before I went on a short run, I wore
a different pair of shoes and it scratched my ankle.
Even it was like a 3k short run, it wasn't comfortable at all.
And I was planning to wear those shoes to the race day, which I haven't been wearing
for all my other runs.
So I'm glad in the end I tried it on my last run and not use them or else I definitely
would have given up because it was too painful.
But yeah, another thing that I learned is that there were a lot of challenges during
the marathon day and the whole journey itself.
And I would consider it very painful as well, especially when I go on long runs.
I wanted to give up every time because my legs were not really listening to me.
There were times where I just wanted to give up in running and it's quote unquote suffering,
I would say.
It's not like actual suffering where like you're almost dying, but you feel that way.
For me, I see it as if the results of it, it's worth it, then the suffering is worth
it as well.
So after your run, how you feel, that sense of achievement, that whatever that you feel
or whatever, if it's worth the suffering, then it's okay.
Especially I paid for it.
I'm paying for that suffering.
So I really need a reason for that.
A side story again, because of the whole marathon thing, I want to get a tattoo saying suffering
helps with perseverance, which produces character and produces hope.
And it's something that I really like prior to doing half marathon and everything.
And this just reinforces it.
Oh, I like that.
So I do want to get a tattoo maybe in the near future.
I love this idea.
I love how all our lesson or like takeaway is to spend more money.
I mean, I don't have to.
It's a lesson that I want to remember and I'm scared I'm going to forget.
So I want it tattooed on my body.
I think that's very beautiful.
I love that.
I fully support.
I won't come with you though.
Why not?
I'm scared of the sound.
Yeah.
I mean, I didn't ask you, but okay.
Honestly, I would prefer asking someone with experience so I wouldn't feel as anxious.
Yeah.
So overall, I feel like I learned a lot in how to overcome some of the challenges that
we had.
Overcome those obstacles.
And just building on the mentality part where I have to persevere building up that resilience.
Yeah.
I think one thing that I want to add is not setting too high expectation or being too
inflexible because I have done several half marathon few years ago.
So I know my PB.
I know my PB and I feel like I'm anxious or I feel worried because I know during my training
the past few months, the pace that I'm running, I couldn't beat my PB personal best.
So I told my friends, like my coach, my desired pace, by then I already come to acceptance.
I'm like, okay, it's fine.
I just want to finish the race.
But I'm really glad she kind of pushed me to do a bit more and say, maybe go for this
pace and if you feel tired during the race, then slow down.
And she expect the finish time so accurately that I was kind of shocked.
I actually reached my personal best, like even better than the past two half marathon
that I did a few years ago.
But I feel like I will be really disappointed on myself if I did not achieve that.
But now thinking back, I should give myself some kindness and being more flexible around.
It's okay if you're not doing your best.
If you try your best, that's okay.
It doesn't have to be a new record.
It doesn't mean it is a setback.
It's just different time, different situation.
You can't really compare like that.
So something that I learned is to be flexible around it.
And again, we talk a lot about this in our podcast is to be kind to yourself.
And I think that's very important as well.
I think the whole thing about half marathon is really people keep saying it's like pushing
yourself to your limits.
And I think it's okay, even if you don't push yourself to your limits.
Yeah, it's not really helpful to always push yourself to your limit.
And the reason why we are sharing this today because we kind of want to do a fun project.
Oh, yeah.
We kind of want to do a 21 days challenge to develop a new hobby.
And I think that 21 days because most of the time people say, oh, you need to do something
consecutively for 21 days.
And that's how we set for 21 days.
Yeah.
I'm very excited to develop this hobby of mine and I've chosen crocheting.
So let's see how it goes.
Yeah, I'm excited to see.
And yours?
For me, I choose mindfulness, practicing mindfulness.
I know because we study counseling, so we kind of touch base on it, but I never actually
practice it.
I did went to yoga once.
I fall asleep.
So I always have that thought in my mind is this is not going to work.
Like mindfulness is really not my thing, but I really want to give it a try again, especially
now with work, the stress kind of build up as well.
So I hope this new hobby can better manage my stress, but also I'm excited to see what
surprise it will bring.
I don't want to put too much expectation on it because I don't want to disappoint myself,
but I'm very excited to see what comes along with that.
Yeah, and it does take courage to revisit something that you have tried and it didn't
work out.
But I mean mindfulness, there are different ways of practicing mindfulness and you can
try it out throughout your 21 day journey.
And I do encourage listeners to if they have something that they want to work on or something
to develop, something to try, then maybe try going to find your own hobby.
Perhaps it's like that where you revisit something in the past where you've tried and you didn't
like or like me where you try something completely new.
It could be neater.
It really depends on you, but finding your own hobby, it will really help with your mental
health, personal growth.
It could help with a lot of things.
Just having that curiosity to try that.
And I think especially in our 20s, we are so focused on working because that's just
the start of whether you're studying or you're working, you kind of forgot to have a hobby.
So if you have anything that always wanted to try out, but you never got the chance to,
if either you're telling yourself, I don't have time, I don't have the money to do so,
try something new can be life changing sometimes.
And there's always a sense of achievement.
If you go through with it with determination, it might not be your long lasting hobby, but
it's something that you tried.
And if you want to follow our journey, you have to follow our Instagram because from
today we will post our progress on social media.
Our Instagram handle is the why in your 20s.podcast.
Me and Viv will post our journey in practicing mindfulness and for her crocheting.
And if you decided to start your journey as well, feel free to tag us in.
Oh yeah.
It will be really fun and exciting to see your progress as well.
And we are doing this all together.
Yay.
Why are you whispering?
I just want to whisper.
Not because people complain about my laugh and it being too loud that hurt their ears
as well.
So is this a way to protect your ears and not damaging it further by whispering?
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
So yeah, and that's the end of our episode.
We will do a post hobby episode after 21 days.
So make sure you tune in for that episode as well.
All right.
I hope you guys enjoyed the story of our half marathon journey.
I hope you guys have a great week.
We'll see you next time.
Bye.