She sounds spanish

but the injury feels like its from hell. Chrondomalacia Patella, that's the name of whatever's been bugging my knee. It doesn't really require a rocket scientist to figure it out; I'd done some googling of my own and when the doctor confirmed I actually lip-synched him. I mean, who can pronounce those two words unless they've got some practice during work hours thanks to Google? 

 Some people dub it the classic Runner's Knees, but whatever it's called, I got a nasty case of it because the intensity was heightened during my trekking trip. Especially the last 2 days or so when the course was just downhill and included thousands of steps (a porter we met said that we'd just covered 2 thousand or so steps on that day... but I was incredulous) 

 So no nothing for about 7 weeks... at least nothing intense. I've been fasting the whole week to compensate my inactivity - at least I got something good out of this month - but I think I should start swimming at least... or kickboxing. It's hard to find swimming pools that don't close at 8pm or get too crowded with little kids or rowdy college students who make it hard to swim smoothly, especially when they splash around until the water gets choppy. I could do badminton with the boyfriend again, but he's busy with school and also sporting an ankle injury of his own. The most I could do is swimming on weekends or maybe one weeknight, and kickboxing (maybe just boxing!) one weeknight.

 How safe is it to run early in the morning at KLCC park? My previous job was relaxed enough to allow me to leave at 5pm sharp and arrive at Subang's lake to run for 30 minutes or so (I usually arrive in subang at 630pm), but my new job seems to demand after 5 working hours. I hate running in the evening especially at the park where most of my colleagues would be ambling back to their cars, and the only option I could think of to run is early in the morning before work starts. I usually reach my office at 7am (one hour earlier) so I was thinking I could run for half an hour and shower in the gym (my department has a membership). Wait... but that's my previous department. Rats!

 There goes all my careful planning. I'm running out of options with my future running schedule. Is there anyone you know who is looking for a running partner to run throughout the week? Maybe I should join the Adidas running community since they run at klcc park every tuesdays.

what a predicament

i miss running.

it's been nearly a week - i'd just arrived on malaysian soil late saturday night. While in nepal my parents sold the house my siser and I were living in and all my stuff are currently in my sister's new apartment. I have no idea where most of my workclothes are, let alone my running shoes (and running pants, sports bras, etc). I haven't figured out how to get to work from the new place and vie versa plus at work I found out that I have to move to a new position too. There's a whole lot of packing up and repacking that I have to do.

I read an amazing article about recovering drug addicts who turned to running as a new addiction. The article featured this one man who ran ultra marathons of many themes ever since he started running. He was a meth addict, cocaine junkie, and various other recreational drugs for about 10 years. No doubt he says the drug high is more intense, but the high he gets from running is just as good. Sometimes, when the mood hits, he says, he'd be running around a simple lake for hours and it felt like a cocaine high. He still dreams about coke though, but nothing beats getting high as a kite and still get to meet his kids for dinner. That is the only difference between his former addiction with his current, and it's a really good difference, one that changes everything from bad to good.

My knees hurt when I touch them, tender like a bruise. They hurt even more and especially when I do my prayers, during sujud when I would have to exert pressure on my knees between movements. I can't go on a simple flight of stairs without feeling like there are hot rods stuck through my kneecaps. I thought that by simply giving my knees an extra long break after the trekking (it's been 7 days and counting now) they would feel a lot better and I could start running again. But the prospect of me running looks poor. I'm afraid of injuries, especially since I have about 4 upcoming races to run, the earliest being this 25th october, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know if I should rest some more, or start running slowly to not lose my already flailing fitness.

I really do miss running. A lot of the things in my life seem unharnessed when I don't have a proper running routine. I miss the discplined, ramrod straight schedule of my week when I was running consistently.

Oh well.

Pokhara, Nepal

I am writing from Pokhara, nepal, a cowboy town where most treks (basically being annapurna) start and end. I just finished my 10 days of trekking yesterday, and for the time being I am GLAD that it's over. My knees hurt beyond oblivion, my thighs are sore to a point where it hurts to even touch them and forget about my feet, they look like blisters have migrated and dominated the region. Yesterday was the last part of our trek, and it was one of the worst days ever basically because I am mentally and physically tired already after walking straight for 10 days. Not just walking... but climbing uphill and running downhill for the most part... all while carrying a 9.5 kg bag.

Yesterday trek was supposedly easy; just a long descent to Birenthanti, where it's another 45 minutes walk to Naya Pul to get a taxi and head back to town. But I have discovered earlier on in the trek that I'm better at going uphill than downhill; I prefer uphill more actually. The downhill trekking did awful things to my knees, at nights in the cold (temperature goes down until 1 celcius which is horribly bad for a malaysian girl!) I can't hardly move them at all because they get so stiff and tight. Even now as I write this down they still hurt.

I thought that the descent to Birenthanti will take only 2 hours or 3 hours max. But I was waay wrong. We started at 830 am, and only stopped walking at 130pm. It was a steady and sometimes steep downhill on stone stairs and sandy trails, and I made the mistake of only having hot chocolate for breakfast. We stopped only for minutes on end because all of us were eager to reach the destination. On the way to Birenthanti, after walking for 4 straight hours, I actually passed out for a while... or maybe passed out was too dramatic, I only just fell to my knees. I just wanted to stop walking!

Anyway, I will write a proper entry on this some other time, as I'm going to see the doctor because my knees are seriously hurting. Yesterday I rewarded myself with a hearty meal of sweet and sour fish with rice and I shoveled it up in minutes... considering to order second. We ate only noodle soup up there with the occasional splurge of cheese pizza, and it was so cold I felt hungry most of the times. But I enjoyed the camarederie of all the trekkers we met in the lodges and during the trek, particularly this amazing couple from Chile who were infectiously happy and friendly. Not to mention a cute, smart-assed and intelligent little 6 year old Ashaw from England that I befriended on the trip.

Been reading all of your updates just now and I am itching to start running again!!

Oh, have any of you heard of this guy Pedro from Portugal? I sat next to him on the bus to Pokkhara and he's into triathlons and he knows a couple of malaysian tri athletes (always asking me whether I know a Dino from Malaysia or Singappore) whose names are beyond my knowledge. I think he was placed 5th in the climb-a-thon or towerthon last February or something... I can't remember facts straight because I'm on medication right now!

Hiatus

I forgot all about it.

But tomorrow I will go on a 16 day trip to Nepal scaling one of the Annapurna routes (ABC to be exact). I've bought a pair of awesome shoe that could double up as a trail running shoe (good investment). I have yet to buy a sleeping bag. I wish we'd bought the pee funnel because woo hoo it's going to get coldddddd in the middle of the night to wake up and pee.

My running routine will go out of the window I guess. Nevermind. I'll start again from scratch. Nothing like a good challenge.

Can't wait to see the awesome mountain views.

Be good fellow runners! Looking forward to read all about your progress :)

I Miss Running!

The last time I ran, it was Saturday.

I'm nursing a slight fever+flu and basically just feeling lethargic all around so I've decided not to go for a run for a while. But I'm feeling the emotional withdrawal of running. It doesn't help that I read running blogs daily and their updates about how good this run felt, and how awesome the mental challenge was makes me feel like donning a pair of running shoes right now and run! I've felt this time and time again; running is such a curse you're stuck with sometimes. It's such a love hate thing. I mean, I can't go for more than 3 days of not running to start to feel either guilty, missing it badly, or eager to run. And to think before I picked up running seriously I couldn't care less whether I've put in any mileage or not!

Before I decided to take running seirously, I was already on a sports bender. I played squash on mondays, Badminton on thursdays, kickboxing wednesdays and I swim on saturdays. I was in a good shape. But after I picked up running I was obsessed with putting in mileage and getting faster or running longer as soon as possible. It got so bad that I always canceled kickboxing classes with my friend, and completely stopped badminton and squash altogether. Swimming is the only thing I keep because swimming is... sometimes a little bit better than running in my book. Heheheh. Plus it helps to keep my knees safe while providing a good cardio exercise. Oh now I miss swimming too! I could go for a fast 500m without getting winded... I bet I can't do 50m now.

Could somebody please tell me that it's normal to feel like this? I'm feeling a little guilty of not running for 4 days now. What's the longest time any of you didn't run? And does it get any worse to pick it up?

Worst Run

Last Saturday I dragged myself for a run.

It was my worst Ramadhan run yet, and it was all thanks to mental fatigue than anything else. I felt it even before I started running, and it caught up on me fully on my third kilometre. I considered stopping at 4km, but something in me refused to give up. I told myself this is good practice for when I run in a real race, all this running through exhaustion and mental fatigue. I got bad stomach cramps throughout and tried to focus on my breathing to lessen the pain. I focused on my flailing form too - I have bad form when I am tired; my body is hunched, my arms cris-crossing my body, my feet slapping the ground - when things get really rough. I broke down the run in parts - until the next tree, and the uncles stretching, the bench at the bottom of the hill... until it is 6.6km.

Done. So glad I pushed through it.

I went back home and got so exhausted that I could barely talk while waiting to break fast. My mom was furious, making me promise not to run in Ramadhan again. I downed 4 mugs of Soya Bean drink, barely eating my meal. I had another 2 mugs of Ribena again.

But I felt soooooo gooood.

Singapore Mishap AGAIN

This is an email I received from Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon:

 Hi Nadia, 

I will have to cancel your current registration and help you register again. If you do not mind, you can give me your personal details so that I can help you register again and send you the confirmation slip. 

Details required are your: 
1. NRIC No 
2. Credit Card Number 
3. Expiry Date of your card 
4. Card Holder Name 
5. Security Pin (3 numbers) 

I will email you again once I've registered for you. 

Best Regards
Neddely
Sports Events

Does it look fishy to you? I called the customer service and they confirmed that such person exist. Anyway I gave them the information but I BCC'ed to my sisters as proof... of what I don't know.