Semangat Lari Balik... and I talk about yoga.

Actually, I have always been semangat.

 Actually, tak.

To be honest, ever since I discovered ashtanga yoga, I am lazy to do anything that involves me to go out of the house wearing clothes... erk, not that I practice naked. Cuma less baju to wash. Dengan tudung nyer lagi etc etc.

Why do I like ashtanga so much? Because it is a good replacement. It physically, mentally and emotionally challenges me just the same. The practice usually takes me about 90 minutes or 120 minutes to complete, depending, and it requires you to focus.

When I came to yoga it was because the doctors said, "Kau lari lagi kau kayuh lagi aku patahkan lutut hang!" (Badan lembik perasan baguih) Ntah2 dier tambah dalam hati. So I went. I came to yoga entirely for a physical practice.

Then somehow it changed. Ashtanga is hard. Period. It has about 5? series - one series have probably about 30 or so poses - and they keep getting harder. Most people will only do first series, maybe two. A few get to do third and beyond. I have been doing first - or primary - series for literally a year now.

The major difference about ashtanga and my 'tri' training is the spiritual aspect of it. Whereas multisport os a world where you need to kinda exude confidence, ashtanga needs you to be really humble. If your balance is off that day - check, did you unintentionally hurt someone? It's a grounding practice, one that goes with my faith.

But let's talk about the physical aspect. Here are a few of my favorite primary poses:

  
This is called bhujapidasana. The full pose requires you to lower your head slightly to the floor, and lifting back up. This develops your arm strength tremendously. My swimming has never felt better. One of my favorites.


Lolasana. I have not yet gained that strength in the hip flexors to lift my feet up.


Kukutasana - Christy Turlington, a dedicated yogi, nailing it. I love this one too.

Here are the poses in second series:


Pincha Mayurasana - I totally love this pose. Took me a while to develop that upper body strength to kick up. Can only do it supported, with my toes against a wall.

I could share more but here's one that I am currently practicing:


Eka Pada Koundiyasana - I could only get to balance for a split second before my arm strength failed me. Love the work I am putting for this, a third series pose.

Anyway, the stronger I get with my practice the more I yearn to start a regular running practice back. I do run, usually once a week, or twice on a good week, and cycle once a week, but it's not satisfying enough. Now that the first series is getting a tad easier, I feel like I want to incorporate running as a cross training... how funny is that? Would be good for my legs to develop some strength that could help me with some hard balancing poses!

 Onto my running practice... twice a week, first. Baby steps!

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!

A Yogi writes about his old flame

The best kind of a workout blog post:

 "I went to yoga again yesterday, and you were there too. No one really knew we used to be together, and I’m pretty sure in a while people who had an inkling of our relationship would forget that we even existed. Our love disappeared as easily in the crowd of people crammed inside the elevator, and they carried with them pieces of us on the way out. In between warrior and plank pose I saw the roll of tummy bulge above the elastic of your pants and I smiled to myself. Cute, just like your face. I love all your imperfections, the stubble on your armpits, your occasional back breakouts, your stinky breath in the morning. I like the woman I had as opposed to the woman everybody sees – the lipstick wearing, perfume misting, powerhouse of a lawyer. Everybody loves a pin-up girl. But could you find someone who loves you and the uneven skin tone of your body? I do. Some people may have called you a bitch in the court, but gladly you’re my downward dog."

Finish Strong

"We told our guys to hold on for 30 minutes of agony for 12 months of glory." -
Coach John McDonnell, after Arkansas won the 1993 Ncaa Cross Country title

I like the quote the first time I read it. I think it's an awesome motivation for holding out and in for a little short while before the sweet release. I always have a bad finish for my race - I tend to struggle a little bit at the last 1km when I run with a higher pace. I think it was KOTR 2009 when I was huffing and puffing sprinting to the end and I went, "Alright now I know why you need speedwork!" I incorporated GP (gentle pickup) everytime I run after that, and they really did come handy. But well, unlike everyone else, I never really enjoyed the last few moments before a race ends. It was so high pressure - you either have to run really fast or not at all.

Maybe if I could run still for the next year I would try to Finish Strong like this one lady I remembered running behind for Mizuno Wave run. I was following her steadily when she suddenly bucked up like a horse and sped off the last 1km. Where did she get the second wind? It was awesome and I bet felt great to give it your all until the end.

Anyway I repeated the quote a couple of times in my yoga class yesterday just to make me hold on in a few particularly challenging poses. Yesterday was TOUGH. The session kicked my ass. I went, "Just a minute, just a minute, just a minute more for my moment of glory!" What glory? I asked myself. Oh well, the glory of not giving up. Balancing poses are hardcore than your mother!

Just a random question but for guys out there - can you squat? Most men in the yoga classes can't squat which left my yoga instructor baffled. It's common for foreigners to not be able to squat but yesterday 3 Malaysian males couldn't. She asked, "Wow you can't squat? I thought it's an Asian thing?"

Anyway turned out that squatting is one of the most efficient and easiest workouts to strengthen your ankle and keep your reproductive system healthy. The pose gently massages your internal organs and also provides just enough resistance workout to your ankle. Maybe we need to spend more time in the loo. Maybe that's why in the olden days people had so many kids. Heheh.

I want to run. Right this second. Miss running in the early morning.

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!

Swim Fan

I went for a swim tonight: and I had FUN.

I always hated the first few laps of a swim. It's not like running where your form instantly falls into motion; swimming takes some time to feel like it's natural. I tend to struggle with my form and stroke and only smoothened out after I've warmed up. Reading too deep into the mechanics and dynamics of swimming strokes have turned me into a hopeless novice swimmer. I just didn't know what I was doing, and whether it was the right thing.

Anyway, I did some sort of a pyramid.

Warm up: 2x50m.
Set: 3x100m, 2x400m. The last 50m a fast speedy one.
Cool Down: 1x100m.

Total km and time: 1.3km, 37 minutes.

Tuesday I went for my muscle stretching and strengthening class, otherwise known as Yoga. I do not call it Yoga because Yoga means a mind and body workout, and to truly practice it your body has to be aligned to your mind. This does not happen to me in the classes. I enjoyed these classes simply because they were hard, challenging, and really really worked my muscles. They remind me of the strenous stretching session after my karate class.

Yesterday was no different. The instructor is my favorite, simply because her classes are ALWAYS tough. The first one I went to, I sweated buckets. My thighs ached for one week. Yesterday, after some realllly tough poses, my heart was pumping hard like I just did a fast sprint. I was almost relieved when she said we could rest for 2-3 breaths. I have never felt so mislead my whole life. I thought Yoga was nothing bun a zen dopey workout. This one was TOUGH!