2 weeks holiday

I do this every year: take two weeks off until the next year. I always feel itching to work afterwards.

What have I been doing? Work, in and out, through emails.

Eat. I have been eating regularly and healthily for the past one month and it's been giving me some good feedbacks.

First, I cut out all junk food. If I was so inclined, I'd have one or two but that's about it. I replace sugary water with plain water or chocolate milk if I really needed the taste. I stuff in more fruits and vegetables. I try to eat wholemeal grains; but if I were back at mom's house it's hard to say no to their white rice (my sister and I tried unsuccessfully to convert them to brown rice). I keep smaller portions of rice, bigger portions of vegetables and medium portions of meat.

My only sugary treats are good dark chocolates. Thank god I'm not much of a sweet tooth.

After the fall, I was pretty much resting at home. My shoulder is still strained, and my hipbones do not sit well. I do forms of karate drills religiously at home, trying to keep the restlessness at bay.

My fabulous form is again, back to zero. I have not been training for 8 days. But I'm not sweating it. There's always time for improvement.

I have been working on my own place - fixing the kitchen, bedroom and storage area. I find that setting a regular timetable for all your cleaning and maintenance keeps your house tidy and in good form. I divide the tasks into daily, weekly and monthly. I believe in weekly toilet cleaning, vacuuming, complete laundry (bedsheets, towels, etc) and menu planning. I also think that aromatherapy oils work the best, even though scented candles do function in closed small spaces.

Cleaning the whole space works the whole body.

Last night, after a good time with friends who've been around for years, I went to bed with a tinge of something I can't quite place. I want to go running. Two years ago, I would always end my good time with a nice run the next morning. It's always a nice feeling to have, the morning air so crisp, and me going about last night's event. There's always something so romantic about it that I can't never let go of. Last night though, I only massaged my grandma knees, thank God I am healthy, and went back to bed, with my alarm off.

I might never be able to run as free as I did before. But there are other things to be grateful about.

Off Season

I can't bring myself to do anything. The best thing is to just allow it to happen.

Been trying to force myself into some sort of a routine - 4/week of cardio - but for some reason it's not working. Unlike last year's Ramadhan, this year I was fully happy to cooperate with my bed and books back home and cuddle. It's not the food or lifestyle, in fact this year I've only spent 3 nights breaking fast with my friends with the rest of the days by myself at home. I would like to think that it's because of my job. It takes a lot out of me in a good way that there's nothing I want to do back home but to lie down and chill out.

I remember when we were kids and during school holidays would go to my cousin's house deep in the Felda settlement. At nights we played Scrabble and all sorts of board games and I remember asking my dad to play as well and he refused, saying that he doesn't want to 'think' at all when he's on vacation. I didn't understand it then but now I know what he means. Even coughing out words for Scrabble is hard work when you're loaded in the office. Especially when we share the same profession. I'm so happy to be a brainless loner during Ramadhan.

I do, though, get pangs of missing the workouts. Like driving through familiar routes and seeing the hills, I get a rush of something I couldn't quite describe, and I knew I totally miss the feel of lactic acid in my thighs and the near explosion of my heart. But I know this rest is for the best, a lot of athletes do this and I know I would come back recharged and energized. I could only push myself to do odd runs during the weekday and it depends on how good I feel on that day. I can't complain too much because as much as I miss feeling the early morning wind on my face I do enjoy the lush moments of waking up super late and sleeping till I don't know when. Although I try not to be affected when I pick my boyfriend up after his 4/week training and games...

Hope you guys enjoy your workouts and all the best!

Some kind of personal

I've been doing sports for a long time to know that cotton anything is bad and we all should go and Dri-Fit ourselves. But I hate Dri-Fit. My running tshirts of choice would always be cotton. I know they get sticky, and super wet you could wring it to fill a cup, but I could never replace cotton with Dri-Fit. Dri-Fit tshirts always emanate the sour glue-y smell that never goes away. Plus I hate that it's slippery on the skin. I am way too used with the sticky cotton thing.

I remember being a university student and browsing through the sports shops looking at the arrays of technical garments. These shops know how to advertise; I felt like I needed everything they have in the shop. But alas, the only thing I could part my money with is just a pair of socks, and my biggest splurge ever when I was a student was a super snug Nike Dri-Fit running tights that I still wear only on special occasion, the last one being a 4 hour run with the running senior in uni. The running tights is long, grey in color, exactly like the compression tights you see these days. I had planned to wear it for the Kl Marathon, but looks like it's going to sit this one out.

This week is off to a slow, or rather haphazard start. I always know more or less what I would be doing every night, and hardly ever stray from my pre-programmed cardio of choice. But yesterday night I bailed out and decided to stay in instead, to lose myself in a book. Telling myself that it's ok to just have a day off is easy, it's convincing the rigid and rabid sports ghoul in me that it's ok that is hard. I hate to wake up the next morning feeling guilty over a missed workout. Which is what happened more or less this morning, but I pushed it away, rationalizing myself that I NEEDED the break:

a) My cousin was admitted to Ampang Puteri yesterday after a confirmed relapse. He has been battling leukemia since he was 14, and he is now 23. We've been scared too many times with this relapse game, only this time it is real, and definitely ugly. Yesterday, I saw the person I grew up with, gave up on everything. He refused to do chemo (it won't help him anyway), and asked his brother to deactivate his Facebook account, let his chickens go, sell off his car, and quit his first - and new - job (he has been in his office only 3 days before getting the news). We're hoping that this passing time would be easier on him, eventhough it won't be for us. All I could remember was the time when him and me went to Bali together, and it was such a fireball of fun.

b) Work. Ever since I'm transferred to a project, life is certainly different. Working hours are funny, and I don't really have a spare time to, well, spare. But I LOVE what I'm doing, and it feels like in school except I get paid for it.

c) Knees. Resting them this time feels a lot easier on the mind than previously. I'm definitely not going to fall into the trap of rushing into the running scene and hammering it even with injuries. It's not worth it. I could always pick up running back. I will never lose the 'mojo' for it.

Wednesday today! My favorite day, cardio wise. Ooooooh can't wait until 5pm.

Friday Ramblings

I guess everybody has their own reasons for being sedentary.

I used to hate time-offs. In school and all throughout university, a pause in my work out regime throws me off the loop so much. Maybe because I didn't really have a goal to train for before, therefore it was always harder to start again what you have stopped. I realized that it's easier for me now to let go of a day - or days - of training if I was feeling tired, sluggish, or even lazy. Unlike in my student days, exercising was not just something additional in my life that I could take out like a block - it has become a lifestyle. And with that mindset change, I am less severe with my workouts, knowing that I'll get back at it in a few days' time.

A lot of girls complain about their ugly tan lines but I love mine so much that I feel sad when I see them slowly fading. For me, tan lines are a visual proof of how many hours I put into the sports I enjoy so much, a unique sort of body markings that only mutual weekend warriors share. Sports have truly strengthened my identity and foothold in this world. It is one area where I am truly proud and confident in. I might not be the speediest swimmer, the strongest cyclist, the fastest runner, the toughest karate opponent, or the most flexible yogi, but I am relentless and continuous, like the sine wave. I like the fact that I could hold on holding on even through the worst moments. I like the moments of self-doubts that I faced, the periods where I would go back and forth between "Maybe I should stop," and "No maybe I should continue." And to come out of it in the end, scathed, tired, injured sometimes, but beaming inside. And the best of it all when I celebrated my own victory to myself, feeling the burn of pride and joy inside me like a bad gastric attack. There's nothing more wonderful than that.

I am feeling a little bit under the weather. Agaiiiin, I heard you say. Yeah I am tired of feeling sick too, but the body (or antibody) wants to do what it wants to do. I think it might also be because of the hard workout session I did last night. It was a comeback sort of cardio, and it was nice to forget about goals, race, time or form. I was glad to be doing it with the company of people whom I have considered great friends.

Weekend is here! I love the weekends. I have sort of a good cardio cocktail for this week but with my fever I'm not too sure. I guess a lot of us here are hitting more and more mileage for the upcoming KL Marathon. I really need to do a proper LSD one of these days. All of my long distance offical runs were always done without proper training and preparation, which always results in poor performance if I was inclined to keep score. But I enjoyed every single one the haphazard race I did, so that's what matters!

Recovery

I think I went overboard last week by jumping straight into my fitness routine as if last Saturday all I did was an hour of exercise.

By Saturday I was a burnout. and this, with Friday off.

I spent Thursday night spending 2 hours working out a sweat with a punishing (and self demoralizing) workout. I hate it when it's a form/skill honing day. You go back and forth from criticizing yourself when your form flails to patting yourself on the back for a good job well done. The guys I work out with stopped their own workouts to concentrate on mine instead. In the end I came home with a very sore body and had a really nice icing session. Ice works wonders! I wonder why it took me a long time to do the whole body icing party.

Friday was supposed to join the uncles but it was raining and to be honest I muttered a loud 'Thank You God' with relief as I dove back into bed. I decided to do nothing since I would need all the energy for my weekend.

Saturday was a nice weather day for being outdoors. It was raining and I love the rain. It was a small group and I think I enjoyed it but I couldn't get rid of this nagging tiredness that's just at the back of my head... or rather on my back, literally. I felt sluggish and slow, and I didn't have it in my heart to push all out. I wondered whether it was because of my water intake, or lack of fuel, or the route itself, or whether I was sleepy, but then it just dawned on me that maybe I was just tired. I didn't really let myself recover after last weekend and come Saturday the fatigue has settled nicely on my body.

Sunday I spent the whole day just sleeping and reading a book with my cat at my side. And I mean it, I slept through the day, waking up intemittently for neccessary things. Plus the top of my ankle still hurts and I think my knees are cranky. I think I'm going to let off the next 2 weeks and do something else. My office department started their routine badminton tournament again and this time I'm going to insist on the singles and kill the other female shuttlers! I never liked playing doubles and the last time I did it was hell. I'm such an Alpha female it doesn't work in a team.

Time to work on my netplay, smashes, and my numero uno favorite - the DROP SHOTS. Betul.

Total Rest

My left ankle is still swollen after 3 days.

My shoulder is happy with her tendonitis.

My knees are not ready to be on their own without medication just yet. Still need some mollycodlling.

 I am left thinking, can't run, can't swim, can't karate, can't inline-skate, can't ride.

 But it's ok. There are worst things in the world. I'm going to take a good rest and read books and cuddle cats and do yoga until I'm bend over backwards like a pretzel.

 Don't worry guys I'm still going to run run run!

Ode to my multisport: no quitting here.

 I have fully recovered from my initial slump regarding my prognosis last Sunday. The knowledge of knowing everything about my disabilities (or in my case, limitations) gives me some sort of a sense of freedom to do whatever I want. I guess this might be the intoxicated me talking. I am on a 2 course antibiotics and ibuprofen, and will be for the next 4 days or so. You know, initially I was gutted out, devastated, keeled over by the shock of the news. I know, drama, but it's about to be that time of the month for me, so I guess I was controlled by my hormones than my rationale then.

 

 I decided to make the best of it. So what if my legs are not made for running - I never said I wanted to be a professional runner. If clunky old men and severely rusty grandmas could shuffle along forward until the cows come home, perhaps so can I. I LOVE running. And I have done it in many situations: I have ran while feeling mad, pissed off, or angry, I have ran the whole course crying my eyes out, I have done it in love with my boyfriend next to me, I ran with kids, with my cat, up the hills, along the beach, up in the woods, amongst cyclists, in the rain, in the sun, while fasting, on injured knees, with injured feet, you name it, I have done it. And I want to do more, these are not enough. And if I could only do it once a week, with a maximum distance of 5k, be it. Nobody's counting, nobody's taking up time counts.

 

 And so is swimming. Oh my, where do I begin. I am in love with swimming.  And swimming loves me. Our relationship was like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Easy, smooth and we did not give a hoot what other people thought. But then somehow in the middle of it all, I changed and things fucked up. It wasn't good enough, I thought, and I changed the dynamics.  And all I got out of it was an injured shoulder and possibly weeks of recovery. I'm sorry swimming. I shouldn't have expected more from you (and myself). We were happy being no one in the pool, mediocre lovers just frolicking in the water. I should have not worked myself into a tizzy and worry about the most incessant things, like high elbow recovery. Who gives a hoot when all you need is love? One day, I will come back to you, and we could start again. You will comfort me and soothe me after a good day of whatever else I would be doing. We will be having FUN. No more hatin' - only lovin'.

 

 Aaaahh cycling. My Secret Lover Agent Man. I shall keep mum about this because things are going good, and if it ain't broken, don't even WRITE OR TALK ABOUT IT.

 

 Yesterday I went for a 2 hours yoga session. I am going to rave about this like I do everything else that sweeps me off my judgmental feet. I thought Yoga was too slow, and for trendy socialites. And then I thought it was too advanced for normal non-bendy people like me. And then I figured it would be too expensive anyway and for snobs, and too easy for ol' athletic me. Then I tried out a class, and another, and I was hooked. Humbled, firstly. I have tasted my medicine and it is bitter, but sweet. I loved being proven wrong. Yoga kicks your ass and shapes it into something you could see wiggling in MTV Jams. Not only your ass, but your core and your arms and your neck muscles and your toes - basically everything you have on you. It also tests your ability to cope with pain and block it out with even breathing. I am not the only one. When carloads of FAM football players drop in the many classes, you know it yoga kicks ass. Sometimes we have more sport dudes than the usual females and grannies.

 

 So here's to another one wonderful year of working out, eating right (one aspect that I need Ian's book to help me out) and making new friends while working out. Here is to races I would be doing, races I would be cheering and races I would be volunteering. Looking forward to spend more time with Mr. Karate, my lawfully wedded husband. And with you, you and you who are reading this. Thanks for the support and they will be reciprocated by a tenfold.

Look Ma, I'm Not Tired! (and zipping through trees)

I've been having a good month so far since December working out a sweat. At first the daily ritual of waking up early during weekends to play sports were a bit torturous since I wake up at 530 am for work and I always love to sleep but after about 2 weeks I find it easier.

There are a lot of benefits of working out. And since we are all runners I don't really have do much convincing about it. I only know that my sleep patterns are much more on track now, and instead of getting tired easily I always wake up refreshed. The most obvious would be my eating habits. I seem to be eating good food continously these days. I had the worst dietary habit ever for years thanks to being a stressed out engineering student on scholarship wrath. Sometimes I forget to eat my meals and always had crackers or maggi noodles endlessly to fill up. But since I've been playing sports I keep wanting to eat, and I find myself reaching for 'good' food. Raisins, oatmeal, bananas, cereal, nuts, milk, veggies, etc. They're filling, not heavy and gives me energy for evening's workouts. Plus the healthier you are the more aware of what you put in your body. It doesn't make sense to sabotage your good efforts.

Last Monday I took a break from all my sports to join my friends for this thing called the SkyTrek Adventure. If you haven't heard of it, it's in Bukit Cerakah, Shah Alam, and it would have you strapped in a harness, 22 feet above ground, zipping from tree to tree either by doing flying foxes, or going through the obstacles. The obstacles vary; you had to walk across a tightrope, or through loops, or 'charlie chaplin' style (refer pics), etc. There's a platform on each tree and only 3 people are allowed on it. Most of these obstacles were challenging in a way that you have to be mentally ready to attempt them with the ground way below you, plus without any support underneath they require you to use your muscles to balance yourself when you wobble on them (and you will wobble and jiggle and hobble, I tell you). All in all it took us about 3 hours to complete I think about 11 obstacles.

The Skytrek offers variety of packages but we took the Extreme one. It is RM 45 each, but since we booked for a large group - 14 pax - we got a discount (rm40.50 each).


That is me climbing the first step to the first challenge. It's really high! I thought I would be ok, but halfway up I started to get nervous and was thisclose to give up - on the first challenge!

First flying fox... well technically it's not really a flying fox since you don't zip across a river but it was a rush nevertheless! Beware of reaching to the platform too fast, most of my friends with a larger mass tend to hit the tree with a thud!

Another flying fox challenge. Could you see the small platform at the end?

One of the obstacles. This was hard cause the tubes move back and forth like crazy! You need strong core muscles and quads+hams to stable yourself!

Charlie Chaplin as modeled by my friend. heheh.

One of the many flying foxes stations. I enjoyed this.

Everybody was exhausted either in the middle of doing the obstacles or slumped on the platform. I found myself still steady and active and I totally owed it to the fact that I exercise everyday. The scorching sun didn't really bother me, plus lack of water didn't really foil my mood, and I even closed the day with a nice in-line skate session at night! Working out gives you tons of energy ok. Why don't more people do this?

All in all, it was a good overall body workout. Not only you have to use strength (to lift yourself up on the stairs and platforms) you have to use your balance, co-ordination, and mental power to conquer this challenge. We all sweated buckets, even my boyfriend, who is having his off season for football, was panting a little bit. Well, he was deathly afraid of heights and had worn himself out during the first climb heheheh.

And plus after this Skytrek, one could always go for a run or rent a bike and cycle up the hills and peaks for a nice exercise. They have good supply of snacks and refreshment stands spread around the park too, so you're never deprived of fuel.

10 more days until I start running!! Wowwwwieee Junior Juice! I'm so nervous and excited it felt like the night before I went to Disneyland at age 13. hahaha.

2 deadly sins

Ever since coming back to my parent's house just 45 minutes from the city last Thursday, I've been doing nothing but committing to gluttony and sloth. I've never felt so guilty and to be honest can't wait to get back on track and face the daily monotony of work and routine. But at the same time this self-indulgence of food and sleep and inactivity and nothing else doesn't really happen often, so I'm trying to force myself to enjoy it as much as I could because come Monday, I'd be back to square one again. 

 Only I've been a glutton and a sloth since Thursday, and I am starting to feel restless. The only form of 'exercise' I did was accompanying my parents on their daily morning walk for like maybe half an hour before treating ourselves to a hearty breakfast of nasi lemak and roti canai! Granted the walk is about 4-5km daily (its about 2.5-3km to the town and back again) but still. The rest of the days I'm either lounging on a bed reading, eating, sleeping and then talking to my parents while they potter in the garden. 

 And the food... let's not talk about it. I think I've had stuffed turkey, mashed potato, dendeng, kari ayam, ayam rendang, and today me and my sister baked a cheesecake and chocolate brownies. Can you say gluttony? To relieve my guilt I keep looking at my training calendar that will start this Tuesday and will continue on through the 3 weekends since I've 'punched card' with my folks this week. 

 Ignore this totally pointless post. Bet nobody noticed the 2 4-5kms I did amidst all the heavenly food and desserts hahahahhahaha!