January-February

Aside from the one week off from workout due to neck/shoulder pulls, here's the menu:

Monday: 5.5k

Tuesday: SS

Thursday: 5.5k, SS

Friday: SS

Saturday: Swim 1.5k

Sunday: Bike, SS

Things have been great. That one week off really put me in a blue mood. But I guess I needed the time off to reflect and rest. I was showing off - too much - in fact in my SS class.

This morning went for a super slow 5.5k run. Time taken: 42 minutes. Actually it is not slow at all in my book. But my definition of super slow comes from the perceived effort. I wasn't struggling, my breath was not labored at all. My legs were ok, I was enjoying the pavements and saying hi to the dogs and their owners. I wish I could take one of the dogs out for a run.

I wish my cats could run with me.

My upper body felt sore from the heavy and challenging workout yesterday. 90 minutes of body weight conditioning. SS, how much do I love thee? So my legs get the workout today.

Last week visited a Chinese Tit Tar. Never heard of it? Neither had I, until last week. Tit Tar apparently means Bone Setters. That guy, Erik did really cool stuff on my neck and shoulder, basically, he put on some 'exorcist' moves on me. I've never heard my bones crack so much, or in another way, how out of position my spine is. It was cool. And I felt so much better.

Weekend Workshop

This weekend I had fever, and also an amazing workshop.

Have been anticipating this workshop for a month or so. It was led by one of the prominent figures in the world of Strengthening and Stretching, although she hailed from a strong Yoga background. The workshop ran for 2 hours each on Saturday and Sunday. I've been prepping myself for the workshop by practicing some of the poses that I thought she would have on the class, just so I wouldn't have a hard time working on it.

The Saturday class started off with the normal series of poses, all which were too familiar for me yet under her breathing instructions I was struggling. She had asked all of us on our injuries and our rehabilitation goals and silently she worked the class adjusting our poses; opening our hips, chests, torso, etc. For the past few months I have been nursing this sore and tender pain at the fold of my left thigh which now I know to be called as Pectineus Muscle and they tend to flare up during a particularly active week. It is also affecting the nerves at the back of my leg, especially in poses where I have to do a deep squat. In the workshop while I was doing a Fish Pose with a Lotus, she came over and pressed down on my left knee, saying that my left hip is tight. And THAT is the reason behind every single aches and pains of my left leg. In the fight between the knees and hips, the hips will always win and this tightness in my left hip causes the my left knee to rotate unnaturally. Hence, knee pain.

Ever since I've been doing the SS class religiously, I've noticed that all other sports sorta takes the backseat. Previously, I balanced running, swimming and cycling together to create a harmonious effect - swimming for my breathing, running for my stamina and endurance and cycling for strength - but after being hooked to the simple systems of SS I find that I get all three including flexibility. Of course, you can't replace the sheer extremeness of speed workouts of running in this, but you do get very very sweaty, and tired, in SS. If I tried doing the complete one series (which is about 40++ poses), it would take me about 2 hours, and that is minus 10+ poses I couldn't do yet.

Anyway, the reason I was mulling about it is that I've signed up for yet another running event this month. I haven't been running since MPSJ. I do get worried since it is a hilly route, and to think that I've stopped all other forms of exercise. I am not worried about my fitness base; I worry on sustaining the speed I set for the timing I want. If I didn't have any expectations, I wouldn't even bother. I guess it's either to start running or stop having expectations.

Till the next time, or run, or swim or cycle or SS!

Obsession

Last night was SS class. As always, 90 minutes felt like... 20 minutes. I am starting to get really obsessive with this, just like I was obsessed with every other sports I happen to try. When I first started swimming, I got so obsessed I literally had this software of a dude swimming in place in my laptop. You click on it and see him from top, side and front, to see the perfect quadrant and his alignment and stroke and what not. I watched probably millions of youtube videos on how to improve my body roll, bilateral breathing, etc etc.

When I got obsessed with cycling I read cycling biographies a lot. I wasn't as obsessed with the techniques of this sport like I was with swimming, but I would get excited looking at videos of cyclists doing their long distance rides. What appealed about cycling was what running once appealed to me - the suffering through the long distance. It wasn't about speed - I will never be fast - but it was more to how long I could hold on and the triumph I felt at the end. Cycling has trumped running to be my number one relaxing outdoor sport and will always remain.

I got obsessed with karate too. I was also obsessed with kickboxing. I was obsessed with in-line skating. All of them now has been reduced to sports I play when I have all the time in the world a.k.a annual leave. Nevertheless I love all of them for different, unique reasons.

One of the things I love about SS class is the rooting at the end of the class. After 90 minutes is over, we were asked to sit and reflect and let go of all arrogance that visited us when we were doing the poses. This was an amazing concept because I am highly competitive and always trying to be the best. This reminder forces me to focus only on myself and not other people. Sure enough the moment I felt chuffed about nailing some tough poses I lost my balance and falter, or fell altogether. The instructor always starts the class by asking us to find our intention. "If today your intention is to be more humble with this practice, with your strength and flexibility - then do so." I love it.

I have registered myself to a couple of running events! It's going to be crazy and I'm sure I couldn't sleep well. It's been more than a year since I last ran socially. It has been 8 months since I last rode in a group too. Sometimes I miss it; there's no pressure, always for the scenery and social banter, but the time sucking doesn't sit well with my 'new' life. I am equally happy to be riding in a group of two, enjoying conversations.

On Track

I blamed it on this advert I saw on Youtube. An normal, homey looking guy woke up dead in the morning and said, "I have a choice, a choice to either stay in and sleep, or wake up and run." He went on about what happened if he lost out that chances. Needless to say I was inspired.

Monday morning and I roused up early at 545. It was hard, but I tell myself that this is the only time in the day I could squeeze in my exercise, and if I don't want to hate my sluggishness afterwards I have to do this and do IT. So I got up and did my prayers, and rounds of Sun Salutations. Sun Salutations are a great warm up tool, after 10 sets of them I was sweating. The run started out fabulously because I was warmed up. I ran and ran and just enjoyed the darkness and the walking aunties, so disciplined in their daily routine. I finished running and cooled down with a couple of stretches. Awesome.

Revved up the whole day.

Tuesday: SS class. This time around, I was less competitive and more intuitive. I made myself focus on only me, how I feel, what I could do, instead of comparing myself against others - I tend to do that a lot lately because I just wanted to be the best. That made me lose focus on the class and I did not improve. Last night though, it was great. Closed my eyes, and concentrated on working my self hard.

No Competition

Tuesday: SS class. It was insane. I hate it that I am naturally competitive with myself. I get mad that I couldn't do certain things.

Thursday: Ran a normal 5.4k. It was low key and I was a bit tired from lack of sleep and a heavy day at work.

Friday: SS class. I was drenched. Nothing to say except that I want to be good at this fast... all for the right reason.

I keep telling myself to not let my ego gets in the way. When I was a fast runner, I was a little bit too chuffed. And now I can't never ever get that speed again without being in a wheelchair afterwards. When I was at my 'peak' in cycling, I got a little bit too heady too, and then got into that accident where originally I planned to smoke people up the hills. We never got to go that hill, cause I crashed. And after a long break, I am slowly getting back to that level.

Now my SS class. I signed up for the first series out of the six series and it's challenging. If you can do all the poses well, you can advance to the next level. But these poses are hard. They require you to engage body parts you wouldn't even imagine could be engaged, and sometimes your mind can't do them. I am told to come to the class with an open positive mind but sometimes I get disheartened... and it's supposed to HEAL me.

I guess it comes to my intention. Do I do these sports so I could show off to people, or for myself and my health? After taking up the SS class, I try to reassess my goals and intention, everytime. It's easy to let your ego gets in the way. I guess I was a little bit into my head, trying to master all the sets just because if I did, it's considered awesome. And that's the reason why I never could.

Anyways, looking forward for a great sports filled weekend.

Pushing Limits.

It rained last Monday. So I did not swim.

Tuesday was my strengthening and stretching class. I love this class. So different the the usual rougher version of exercising - no v02 max, max speed, etc - but all about body awareness and relaxation.

It was only me and the instructor, so we decided to try out several poses that normally wouldn't be taught because she think I could handle it. And she really pushed me. I was contorted, bent, twisted into every shape imaginable. This really surprised me. I never thought my body could take so much pressure and still be ok. I was trembling throughout the class, it was that exhaustive. I nearly drove into a tree on the way back because I felt so DRAINED.

Favorite pose: The turtle, and one of those super twisty hook your arms around your body under your knees thing. Of course, the super modified chaturangga simply made me whimper. As always, the class is HARDER than any other cardio.

Plus point: All the forward bends sorta gave my body a new pair of legs... or rather, hamstrings. They're not tight anymore, and perhaps stronger. I can't wait to see the improvements in a few more weeks.

And as always, the best thing about this class, the 'grounding' session at the end, where you take all your ego and pride about being able to do such amazing things, and remind yourself that if it weren't for a superior being/force we wouldn't be able to do it at all. Stay humble, and be thankful.

Tuesday good day

Good cardio. No hesitation in the morning, even when I slept at nearly 2am. I knew I was going to have to put in some cardio today and there shall be no excuses.

Woke up, got ready, drank milk, then started. It was fast, and furious (for me) and too soon my heart started racing, legs burning. I kept to my pace, afraid of cramps. At the usual stop I did forward bends until I'm a noodle. Then I continued again, but due to the busy traffic (forgot that Selangor has to work) I have to be careful about the cars. It bothered my pace and I hate having to slow down especially when I'm on a roll. My legs seem to be quite heavy and I worked them hard to 'man up' to the speed. No mollycoddling!

At the last stop I picked up pace that really got my heart pumping and my thighs groaning. The whole distance felt short but I knew I worked hard today, pushed myself.

But when I came back from a hearty breakfast, I realised that it's not enough. I want to be doing more - so I went to the gym and spent about an hour there. I was dying of thirst afterwards.

Chocolate milk is such a good recovery drink. Just a thought.

KOYAK

My new favorite term: Koyak.

Technically it means tear or it can also be a verb - to tear. But in the context of sports and exercise, Koyak means to suffer. or burn out, or to struggle.

Picked this up from the people I generally do cardio with. Especially during the long slow ones, with the sun burning on your back, surely one or two will utter these words - "Damn koyak weh!"

It's my favorite term because it means I am working hard and pushing myself. To get better.

Today was my first comeback to strength training and stretching class after a looong sabbatical. Of course I explained a great detail about my knee injury, my shoulder, and what-nots. I am glad I have an instructor who remembers my injuries.

First she made me do a quadriceps stretch that also massage the knees. It took all my effort to not scream out or move because the tension in my knees were building up. But it was not painful; it was merely easing through the knots of my tendons.

Then we started with ab works. I am glad to say that although I struggle through the sets, at least it wasn't that hard.

The hardest was the arm strengthener. We did a series of Cobra poses that just did my triceps in. When we got to the lunges, my head felt lightheaded. We did the whole thing with no ceiling fan or aircond on.

Can't wait for a totally punishing but no doubt satisfying cardio tomorrow. I am looking forward to Koyak!

Have a great weekend everyone. And Happy Chinese New Year to my Chinese friends!

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.

Blast!

Because I was really deprived of a good cardio, last night I joined my friends for one great session. Or sesh, as they called it, but we're not here to learn more lingo aren't we?

I have not been doing anything SUPER HARD for exactly 31 days. The last remotely hard workout I did was about 14 days ago and even then I could hold it on my own. I knew my fitness level is definitely not the same like it was a month back but I did some running... ('some' equaling to only like, 3 measly 5.5ks?) I thought well, running is THE hardest cardio you're going to get, it ain't a sprint workout but at least I'm moving my body, even only 3 times over a period of 31 days. So, you know, I'm still FIT.

RIGHT.

1) Made the mistake of stuffing my face with one Potato Jacket with Chicken and Cheese (my planned pre-hardcore workout dinner). And a plate of spaghetti aglio olio (unplanned.) Well can you blame me? The thing's right in front of my face, and I need... to CARBOLOAD. Doesn't matter if it's 15 minutes BEFORE exercise.

2) The team's effing fit. I'm talking about Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Van Damme, and Bruce Lee kind of fit. They are not the sort of mean cardio robots to mingle with if you're making a comeback after a long hibernation. These guys are just plain tough. Meanwhile I just lack protein and muscle *cries*

The moment we started I tried my hardest to keep up. Almost immediately I started to feel my dinner at the base of my throat. 20 minutes into it, I started to feel the heavy dread of thinking I have bitten off more than I could chew. I have another long 60 minutes more. My chest felt tight and my heartbeat was erratic and fast. To my amazement, I realized that I know this feeling, like a fond distant memory: this is the feeling of being unfit and starting up. This is the feeling being a cardio n00b. I was working so hard that my base of my neck ACHED from the pulse pounding on my right side. I couldn't even hold a conversation. I think I was working at RPE 23 that night... which doesn't exist which means out of the track HARD.

It feels good to be smashed. And to know exactly where I stand, fitness wise. I used to be one of them... maybe not completely in but at least I'm not panting 20 minutes after we've ended things! So now I'm taking a good 3 weeks of rest before I start again, maybe slowly, BUT surely, until I get to the same, if not above the level that I was.

Isn't that a sweet sweet challenge to have. Until then, it's back to warm cozy nights of family, books, ramadhan reflections, and friends.

I need to gain MUSCLES! Urgh.

Pink Of Health

I'm feeling so much better lately, compared to the previous months. There is a difference between being totally well and suffering from a light sniffle or going through the last excess of fever. I feel like I could run for hours and then do another 3 hours of karate!

Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Yesterday in my yoga class the teacher said something interesting. She said that sweating is the most effective way of detoxification. Skin is the largest's organ and when the skin sweats, it means that the internal organs are all heated up as well, and that is the main key in the detox process, which more or less means you are getting rid of the toxins. I sweated buckets in the class yesterday, it was so embarassing. Sweat puddles formed around the mat as we twisted and stretched.

One interesting pose that I think is useful for runners that we did yesterday was called the Fire Hydrant. It is aptly named since the post requires us to get on all fours, lift one bent leg up to the side, just like a dog peeing at a fire hydrant:
Make sure that your arms are straight throughout, bending them just counteracts the effectiveness of this position. For added challenge, straighten the lifted bent leg and bring the feet closer to your face. This really opens up your hip flexors and also strengthen your thigh and butt muscles.

Another explanation and variations of Hydrant pose taken from Unrefined Athlete website, which has a lot of useful tips on stretching and strengthening our body parts (click at the link to see the video included):

Daily Pose: Help for Hips, Back, and Core

The Fire Hydrant: I have used this pose many times for warming up my hips before running as well as basic hip, back, and core strengthening. In the video below, our model gets on all fours, lifts the right, and then the left leg up and down while keeping a bent knee.
I recommend some other variations, such as lifting your leg and holding it (envision dog peeing on fire hydrant here). Or lifting your leg, straightening it, and then holding it. You can also left the opposite arm and reach in front of you or out to the side to add additional back/ core strength and balance.
Fire Hydrant Kicks: Get on all fours, lift right leg, keeping knee bent, and kick leg out to the right and then as far back behind you as you can, almost as if you're kicking towards your left butt cheek. When you kick out to the right you have the option of straightening your leg, but keep it bent as you kick it behind you. I perform about 10-15 reps and then I switch sides. This is one of my favorite pre-run warmups because it is a dynamic stretch and gets circulation into the hips.

Well, that's about it from me today. Maybe I'm going for a run this evening. Happy stretching weekend warriors!