Central Park Routes

Another lonely night without the computer last night, so I was off to bed early.Woke up this morning to continue my pursuit of Michelle Obama arms. Ok maybe I don't want Michelle Obama arms....I want Linda-Hamilton-in-Terminator-arms.SO Wednesday is my usual interval and back day.

Did:
30 min walk/run on treadmill
30 min elliptical machine.

My arms feel like falling off after doing:
*Lat pulldowns
*Upright row on cable pulley
*Bent over dumbell row
*Bent over fly
*Lateral raises
*Bicep curl



Aside from my Linda Hamilton arms pursuit, I am also on the quest of a running route in Central Park.here are some routes I found on the internet. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the area so I don't really know what to expect.

Central Park, with 843 acres in the heart of Manhattan, is one of the world's most popular places to run. Whether you're a Central Park regular or you venture onto its roads and paths only occasionally, these guidelines will help you navigate safely and keep an accurate count of your training miles.



For tips on staying safe while running in Central Park, click here. Please be considerate of other park users by staying in the innermost recreation lane when running or walking.



Loop Courses



Full loop—6.0273 miles on roads
Start on East Drive at East 90th Street (point 1) and head north. Pass the 102nd Street Transverse on your left at approximately .75 miles (point 2), and Lasker Rink and Pool on your right at approximately 1 mile. Continue around the north end of the park to the 102nd Street Transverse on your left at approximately 2 miles (point 3). Continue south on West Drive, crossing the 72nd Street Transverse at approximately 3.75 miles (point 4) and Tavern on the Green on your right at approximately 4 miles. Continue around the south end of the park, heading north on East Drive and passing the 72nd Street Transverse on your left at approximately 5 miles (point 5). In the final mile you'll pass Loeb Boathouse on your left and the Metropolitan Museum of Art on your right before returning to your starting point.



Lower five-mile loop—5.1432 miles on roadsFollow the full loop course, but turn left/west onto the 102nd Street Transverse (point 2), then left/south onto West Drive (point 3). This transverse is closed to vehicular traffic, but be aware of bicyclists and in-line skaters.



Upper five-mile loop—4.9280 miles on roads
Follow the full loop course, but turn left onto the 72nd Street Transverse (point 4), then left onto East Drive (point 5). This transverse is open to vehicular traffic at designated times.



Four-mile loop—4.0439 miles on roadsFollow the full loop course, but turn left onto the 102nd Street and 72nd Street Transverses.



Three-mile loop—approximately 3 miles on roads
Start on East Drive at East 90th Street (point 1) and head north. Pass the 102nd Street Transverse on your left at approximately .75 miles (point 2), and Lasker Rink and Pool on your right at approximately 1 mile. Continue around the north end of the park and turn left/east onto the 102nd Street Transverse at approximately 2 miles (point 3), then right/south on East Drive (point 2) to return to your starting point.



Lower loop—1.7153 miles on roads
Start on East Drive at the 72nd Street Transverse (point 5) and head west across the transverse. Turn left/south on West Drive (point 4), passing Tavern on the Green on your right. Continue around the south end of the park to your starting point.



Reservoir loop—1.57 miles on cinder pathway
The pathway around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, just over 1.5 miles, is marked at 100-yard and half-mile intervals beginning at 90th Street and East Drive. The pathway is well maintained and offers sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. Stay to the right and run counterclockwise.



Bridle path loop—1.66 miles on dirtA bridle path encircles the reservoir just below the cinder path, making for a slightly longer loop on soft surfaces. Horses have the right-of-way on the bridle paths. If you cannot move out of the way of approaching horses, slow down or stop until they are well past you.



Full bridle path loop—approximately 2.5 miles on dirtStart on the bridle path at East 90th Street and head north. At approximately East 96th Street make a hard right down a short gravel hill. Bear left and continue north, following the trail as it loops around the North Meadow ball fields (they'll be on your left), passes alongside the 102nd Street Transverse, and continues alongside West Drive. Rejoin the reservoir bridle path loop at approximately West 93rd Street, continuing around the south end of the reservoir to your starting point

My Semi Amish Lifestyle

It's been a week over since my laptop died. So far, and surprisingly it has been quite alright. Although a sweet sister lent me her laptop, I don't use it everynight as I used to with my own laptop.I'm quite used to it really, I just get online at work, and I spend my nights reading the Bible (sounds really Amish right?)and sleeping early. Which is the biggest plus point - sleeping early. I find that I am getting enough sleep these days and I've also been boosting my immunity by taking Vit B, C and echinacea. Although there are some days I am really tired like last Saturday, I find that I recover much faster with sufficient sleep and the supplements.

As such, I had such a fantastic run this morning. Only 6km but it was fast and energetic (okla nothing like Usain Bolt but it felt fast to me..at least i didn't feel tired)Some mornings I wake up tired but once I start running I am ok. This morning I woke up feeling energetic, and I felt I could keep my pace throughout the run and not slow down on the last round.

I've also been eating more lately (hence weight hasn't changed) but I do feel a bit more streamlined and compact.Also stronger. Oh I just hope it is muscle!!

My Michelle Obama arms are coming along fine. Not that I have even achieved 50% of that but I notice my arms are a little more shapely than say 3 weeks ago :) The needle on the scale hasn't budged though after 3 weeks of hard work :( but at least the hamster cheeks are gone :)

In my pursuit of MO arms I am now incorporating some upper body work together with my lower body work.

Today I did:

30 mins run on treadmill
30 mins on bicycle

Adductor exercises
Abductor exercises
Seated leg curl
Sumo squats with shoulder presses
Squats

Oh i also noticed there is a new Treadwall in the gym, but it's only for those who take personal training sessions :(

15K

Finally got some motivation to run on weekends..Woke up late as usual...since our new cell group started we've been ending a bit later than usual...that's because we start later as well, and plus supper included, most times it's nearly 12 midnight by the time I get home.

Thank goodness the weather was lovely today. Ran around Damansara Heights, about 15km. Slowed down a bit on the second round, especially going uphill. Even the lorry stalled uphill!

I've got a bit of a tan now, and now I am just waiting for dinner..that totally negates all my hard work this morning!

Asian BMI

Had some lovely strawberry cheese ice cream cake at Dad Baker's yesterday. Right after gobbling 2 slices of the lovely cake and 3 pieces of pizza, Dad baker whips out a BMI Index chart...special one, catered for Asians.And of course, moi was categorised as PRE OBESE. (ya ya i know i should stop eating those cakes but Dad Baker keeps making 'em?? :D)

Anyway I googled Asian BMI and here's a link I found, WHO's BMI criteria for Asians. It says:

So the Asian "overweight" criterion is >=23.0 kg/m2. But "obesity" body mass index criteria is up to each Asian nation to decide for themselves.

Hmmm typical Singaporeans la.

THis is the standard one:



So I've renamed myself "Her Royal Tubbiness, Queen of Cellulite" since I am obese by Asian standards.

Becoming Amish

My laptop died on me. So I have been sort of cut off from the world... This is posted from the office desktop but it isn't really convenient to be online all the time here as it is a central computer used by everyone.

Anyway speaking of being Amish, my friend sent me this link...looking through it I SHOULD become Amish, so i won't be tubby and have all those lovehandles which I have been shamelessly displaying ( I got 2 tight tight shirts for my birthday).

To be more thinnish, try being more Amish

As noted here recently by Sarah White, scientists have found that there is a common gene variation that makes people more likely to be overweight, but three or four hours of moderate exercise each day can nullify the gene’s effect.




In fact, persons with the fat-inclined variant gene who got lots of physical activity were no more prone to excess weight than those without the variant, and weighed an average 15 pounds less than those with the variant who didn’t exercise.


The scientists suggested that those with the fat-inclined gene need, almost literally, to exercise their butts off. Unfortunately, this raises the question of just how people are expected to add three or four hours of workouts to their daily schedule. In fact, there may be at least a partial, practical answer.

The key is that the scientists who made this discovery did so by studying the Amish of Pennsylvania, a people not renowned for gym memberships or extended workouts or sophisticated exercise equipment…or indeed, sophisticated equipment of any kind. And therein lies the key to their physical fitness.

The Amish do not avail themselves of the labor-saving devices and electronic diversions that the rest of us enjoy. They labor. And when not laboring, they don’t sit and gape at a video screen. They work off calories simply by hand and foot: house cleaning, gardening, walking, athletics, and so forth.

This may not seem like a serious exertion program, but the Amish are prodigious eaters of food as fattening as anything at KFC — pork, gravy, black bread, more gravy — and according to the scientists, it certainly works for them. Perhaps it will work for you as well.

The Amish exercise plan — no shunning of electricity required
This doesn’t mean that you have to buy a mule for transportation and cut the power lines to your home. It means that there are ways you can, let’s say, “Amish-ize” your lifestyle with potentially good results for your waistline.

We’ll start with the obvious measures. The Amish do not drive. Probably half of their lack of excess poundage can be traced to that alone. There are surely certain places that you presently go to on a regular basis by car that you could get to without great inconvenience by bicycle.

This would actually give you bragging rights over the Amish, who generally travel by horse-drawn conveyance rather than bike. There’s not much calorie burn when the horse is doing all the work.

In addition, the Amish are largely an agricultural community. They grow their own food to a significant degree, which means they are engaged in digging, weeding, furrowing, tending, and harvesting crops to a great extent. In the process, they simultaneously get exercise, raise healthy, nourishing, low-fat produce, and save money. How can you pass up a deal like that?

And you needn’t make a big, onerous deal out of it. A few tomato plants, a few zucchinis, a row of snap beans and one of lettuce, and you’re in business. Just keeping them healthy, productive, weed-free and watered on a regular basis will keep you moving.

For that matter, if you have a yard, you have a number of calorie-burning possibilities. Start with the lawn. If someone else currently mows it for you, discharge them and mow it yourself. And no Amish no-noes such as a riding mower or motorized push mower; get yourself a sturdy manual lawnmower and go to it.

Similarly, if you currently use an electric or gas-powered hedge trimmer, replace it with a simple pair of hedge shears. Sand things by hand rather than by power tool. And so on. In general, the idea is to abandon the use of electrical or gas-powered tools in favor of manual alternatives wherever possible.

Exercise during chores, and no games for you
The same with household appliances. You can’t be expected to hand-launder everything, for example, but eschewing the clothes dryer and lugging the clean wash into the yard and hanging the items on a clothesline can provide a good 15 minutes of physical activity.

Hardwood floors needn’t be vacuumed; they can just as easily be swept. The same goes for driveways, sidewalks, patios, walkways, or other outdoor surfaces that you currently just clean with the hose.

And finally, to repeat: The Amish do not have TV sets or video games. Study after study has linked the amount of time spent glued to the tube or console with the amount of excess weight on the gluee. The more you separate yourself from these electronic sloth enablers, the better.

Go for a run. Rake some leaves. Shoot some hoops. If you’re really serious, get yourself a butter churn.

Adopting a more Amish lifestyle could do wonders for your health and weight. And you don’t even have to go to the prayer meetings.

(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

Source: http://calorielab.com/news/2008/09/12/amish-exercise-obesity/

Torturous evening run

Just got back from an evening run…nearly suffered the same fate as the KOTR runner….it was way too hot, I was dehydrated. I felt quite alright while running, but when I stopped to cool down, I felt a bit spaced out..the nearly passing out type of feeling. I’m sticking to my morning runs, definitely.

I squeezed in an evening run today because I missed my Saturday morning run yesterday….we ended bible studies pretty late on Friday and I was too exhausted on Saturday morning to wake up for a run. Could not run this morning either as I was singing in church. In my desperate attempt to clock in some mileage over the weekend, I decided to run in the evening.

Things I have observed about evening runs:
1. I don’t sniffle as much as from morning runs. My sinus tends to act up in the morning.
2. I much prefer to run on an empty stomach, the only exception I make is Power bars before runs. Nothing else. I was still burping from my soft shell crabs for lunch just now. Yucks!
3. Too too hot. I am really heat averse. Whole reason why I never run in the evenings.
4. Takes me a longer time to cool off in the evenings
5. I feel more energetic in the morning. Feel sluggish for evening runs and tend to drag my feet more

Think I got a bit of a tan from the run just now. I have sun kissed cheeks now! But I am still sweating after a cold bath..yucks!

Michelle Obama Arms

Earlier this year there was so much rant and rave about Michelle Obama's arms.Honestly, I dont think her arms are that nice, I much prefer Madonna's. Some beg to differ as they think that Maddie's is too masculine..but I like. But to achieve Maddie's arms you probably need 0% fat...which is like absolutely impossible..so yes I'll settle for Michelle Obama arms anyway...more realistic.

So this morning I started my pursuit of Michelle Obama arms...After a light cardio workout on the elliptical machine for 40 mins, I started weight training on the chest. I've put off tricep dips for a long time now (laziness..) but I'm starting again.

Here's what I did today:
Push ups (using fitball) - 2 sets x 20 reps
Dumbell press (using fitball) with 8kg dumbells each arm - 2 sets x 20 reps
Dumbell fly (using fitball) with 6kg dumbells each arm - 2 sets x 20 reps
Tricep dips - 2 sets x 12 reps (AIYOYO! Need to improve.)
Lateral raises (4kg dumbells each arm) - 2 sets x 12 reps
50 crunches only (slack today. :P)

My arms feel like falling off already..gosh need to work extra harder..I don't want my arms to be wobbling still after I've stopped waving...

Tripping

No I am not talking about the psychedelic experience from drugs. I'm talking about tripping, as in falling over something.Went out for a short 6km run this morning, and at about the 5th km, I stepped on a long twig with my right foot, and somehow it momentarily got lodged between both my feet and nearly caused me to trip. I was then reminded of the times that I actually tripped and fell while running.

I have fallen twice in my entire running career. The first one was back in 2002 (I think), where I fell down and scraped my left knee badly. I still have the keloid to remind me of it. (I actually took a picture of my keloid to post on the blog, but the close up looked so disgusting even after touching up the picture, so I decided to spare you from seeing it). It was one of the most painful experiences I've had, a superficial cut hurts even more than an internal injury. I could feel all the nerves on my skin being ripped or something like that. What made it worse was the cut was right on the kneecap, so there was no way of it healing properly as the cut would open everytime I flexed my knee.It took quite a long time to heal. What a nightmare. THis happened at the Power Run...I remember I was quite tired that day, and this all occurred before I started running any marathons. At that moment in time, I was just praying to God that I would be able to finish the run..and guess what, I tripped and fell over RIGHT IN FRONT of an ambulance. So, I DIDN'T get to finish my run, but there was DEFINITELY some divine intervention there....how coincidental can that be, falling down INFRONT of the ambulance? I was trying to be a hero and finish the race anyway, but it was too painful and I was bleeding too much to finish the race. So that was the one and only time I ever got back to the finish line IN AN AMBULANCE. How embarrassing!

THe second time that I tripped was a few years back...think I was dragging my feet and then whoops, suddenly just tripped and fell....this time RIGHT infront of a bus. Good thing the bus didn't run me over!

But today, no I didn't fall infront of any vehicle. Definitely no psychedelic feel either!

Interval Workout

Had a blast of a workout today. It's interval day, with 30 mins of run /walk on the treadmill, keeping heart rate between 140 - 160bpm.

Also did my own spinning for 30 mins, starting with Level 7 on the bike for about 4 minutes, then increasing 2 notches up every 2 minutes until I reached about Level 15, then I brought it down to Level 7 again. Repeated second cycle until I hit Level 16, and for the third cycle, max level was Level 17. Kept heart rate at between 140-160bpm.Was dripping buckets!

After cardio, I went on to do back exercises:
Lat pulldowns (managed to increase weight yay!)
Reverse fly
Upright row
Dumbell pullover

Was supposed to do 100 situps but only managed 95 today. Sore!

Penniless Celebrity

My Celebrity Fitness membership is expiring soon. I've been offered 3 packages:

Package 1
buy 18 months and get another 18 months free

Package 2
buy 24 months and get 24 months free

Package 3
buy 48 months. After 48 months you pay RM120 per year
(They call this Lifetime membership but i dont call it that coz it's not like you get it free for life..you just pay significantly lesser)

I heard that Celebrity Fitness has bought over California Fitness. According to them, this is the last Lifetime Membership that they are extending to members, as in the long run, lifetime memberships do not make a lot of money. THat's why places like California Fitness and True Fitness (according to this staff ..dont quote me!)are having financial liquidity problems.Sounds quite logical..if you look at Fitness First, they dont offer lifetime membership and they seem to be sustaining pretty well.

The monthly fee at Celebrity has increased from RM149 (which is what I paid before) to RM169...but at this new fee i will be entitled to passport membership - which means I can use any Celebrity branch here. (And that includes the California Fitness in Mid Valley which they took over)

However $$$$ is the problem (isn't it always?:P) While the lifetime membership is a lot more worth it, it's also A LOT MORE $$ upfront.

I've worked it out:
(48 months x RM169) + RM120 (procesing fee) = RM8232

Of course they have some installment package tied up with some credit cards, but it's still a lot of money.

Previously they had approached me on lifetime membership at a cheaper rate, but I was reluctant then as I was worried that they would foldup overnight, plus their service was crappy.Now that they have bought over California Fitness, I see that they could stay for long - especially if they are considering scrapping lifetime membership in future in order to sustain better. Also, their service has improved (but it took them a LONG LONG LONG LONG time - ah well maybe they are slightly - only slightly better than our country which is REGRESSING)

SIgh....bills bills bills...I'll be a penniless B grade celebrity.

Runner Dies at KOTR

I found out on facebook that a male runner died from heart attack after completing the 22km at the Adidas KOTR run yesterday..

This sounds really insensitive but I wouldnt mind going this way..quick, and doing something I like.

RIP Gary Leon Robert.

Updated: Oops, was told the cause is not known yet.

Fitness Test on Polar

I finally tried the POlar heart rate monitor. I did the fitness test last night, but forgot that i had had a cuppa coffee before the test. Anyway, my resting heart rate turned out to be 61bpm (which is pretty good considering I had coffee!) and my VO2 max was 47.

I was kiasu and decided to test it out in the morning again, and this time my resting heart rate was at 58bpm, with a VO2 max of 49! According to the chart and the heart rate monitor, my fitness level is ELITE (hurrah!)! I guess one can be fat and fit at the same time...oh well, if can't be skinny at least can be fit... Also, this result is that of a female in her mid 20s :) :) Double bonus!

Anyway, I used the heart rate monitor at the gym, and it could sync with the treadmill and elliptical machines because they are Polar ready. The treadmill was quite accurate in its readings, whereas the elliptical machine was not accurate as my heart rate tended to fluctuate between 130 and 160bpm when I hadn't changed my pace at all. In any case, the training zone that was set on the watch was quite low, about 70-80% of my max heart rate. ( My max heart rate is 183 - so for those of you who know the formula you can guess my age!) I usually workout to about 163-165 bpm which is about 90% of max heart rate. This morning I even went up to 170bpm..which is about 93% of my max heart rate!!!!That's crazy!!! Unless of course...my heart is actually younger than its physical age..:) :)

Polar RS300x

This is one of my birthday presents - a Polar Rs300x watch with a heart rate monitor. I should be able to sync this to the treadmills in the gym , but I've been too busy all week to test it out.

More later!

A Pleasant Day at BB

My brother booked me a one night stay at Swiss Garden hotel yesterday. I got to the hotel about 4ish, the first thing that I had wanted to do was check out the swimming pool and gym. Alas, I turned on the tv and saw Eric Bana, so got side tracked for a while. The movie being shown was “Lucky You” starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore.




After the movie finished, I went down to check the pool and gym…the pool was so tiny, slightly bigger than a Jacuzzi pool so I did not bother to swim (plus too many people at the poolside sunbathing – I hate crowds). The gym overlooks the pool and is quite tiny too. It had 2 treadmills, 1 elliptical trainer, 1 stepper, 2 bicycles, free weights and some benches. I was happy enough with the treadmill.

Right after that I went gallivanting on Jln Bukit Bintang, and shopped a bit in BB Plaza. It’s like a whole new world as I very rarely go to that area with so many neighbourhood malls now. Saw a lot of cheap clothes, but they were mostly Ah Lian looking thingy. Only got myself a nice cheap halter neck top (which would probably last a few months only). As a teenager I used to frequent a poster shop in BB Plaza for Duran Duran posters, and much to my surprise I found that this shop still exists today!Only it mostly sells posters of football celebrities and movie posters. Later I met up with a friend and we went to Jln Alor for dinner.

We went to a restaurant called “Happy Lim Eatery”. We ordered:
Fried kangkung with belacan
Grilled stingray
Chicken satay
Marmite ribs (yummmmy!!!)






We were so tired we just went back to the hotel to chill out. Later that night some of my staff came to surprise me with a cake! It was very sweet of them.



We called it a night by 12 midnight, and slept until 8am. (The gym only opened at 8am so this was one of the rare occasions that I got to sleep in  ) We headed for the gym at 8.30am but the treadmills were all in use. So I’d started with 20 mins of the stepper, followed by 10 mins of the elliptical trainer before I got to use the treadmill. It was unbelievably hot – of all days the aircon did not work.

After I finally got on to the treadmill, it was so hot, like running in a sauna. I had to stop after 4km as I was all soaked and dripping onto the treadmill! It was also very uncomfortable and could not breathe. It’s supposed to be outdoor running day today, but I guess working out in that sauna-like room was enough!

After about an hour of workout, I showered, then we headed to Pappa Rich on Bukit Bintang for breakfast. We had the traditional toast + butter+ kaya, 2 half boiled eggs and coffee in the traditional cup and saucer. The ambience was pretty nice, except for the stupid tourist bus across the road infront of Federal Hotel honking with the loud horn and the stupid people smoking. Don’t understand why the best seats are always given to smokers. They should just ban smoking in restaurants.







It was a lovely morning, and it rained so it cooled the day. I hope the haze clears so I wont feel awful when I run outdoor.

Mid Life Crisis Ramblings

I don’t understand why I have love handles when I don’t have anyone to handle it.

I don’t understand why I have child bearing hips when I won’t have any children to bear.

Ho hum, such is the life of a middle aged lady with middle age spread and mid life crisis!

Been good with my diet and exercise whole of last week (with the exception of yesterday’s dinner) but the scale needle won’t budge. Feel a bit smaller but the scale needle still did not move. No I am not buying that “it’s muscles” story!

Anyway it’s usual legs day today on a Monday…had to run off the extra calories from the yummy dinner last night!

Rain, Shine or Haze

Finally started my Saturday morning runs again. Been lazy, tired and sluggish for a while now..It's been a few months since my absence for Saturday morning runs. Woke up late this morning, about 8am, but decided I needed to run anyway since I've committed myself. Hazy morning, but I went nevertheless.

I think runners are delusional people. They will either kid themselves into thinking that its ok to run in the haze OR they run early in the morning when they cant see the haze!

So anyway I ran 8.5km this morning....was going to do 10 but my throat was rather itchy because of the haze, so i thought I'd cut it short. Plus my left foot hurt a bit so I thought I'd better take it slow and increase distance another time.

Feeling more energetic now with the run :)

New Mantra

Must have a new mantra to get out of this sluggish mode.

I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST
I MUST....

....motivate myself.

I must keep reminding myself that I am beginning to look like the Digi yellowman.
I must keep reminding myself that the only similarity that Miranda Bailey and i have is the ass.

I've committed myself..but can I do it?

Ramblings

I've been lazy to blog about my exercise regime. Actually I've just been lazy - whole of last week especially. It's back to the clapper this week.

Oh forgot to blog about this issue - in Celebrity Fitness, initially they placed the clothes hooks outside the shower cubicles. So you'd have to expose yourself a bit to reach out to grab your garments etc. However, after 2.5 years of operating in Bangsar Village, now they've finally fixed a hook INSIDE the cubicle. On top of that, it's a fancy hook in the shape of a dolphin. DOn't understand - it took the management over 2 years to fix this? They sure take a long time to fix small things. They took more than a year to fix the heaters as well.

Been trying to get back to RPM - but it's always too much of a rush before work...so i've started swimming again. Gotta motivate myself!!

Irresponsible Pet Owners

I can't understand people who don't put their dogs on leash when walking their dogs - AND especially so when they know their dogs don't like runners. It's such irresponsibility which leads the dog to attack people, and they blame it on the dog and put it to sleep.Animals don't have the capability to think whether an action is right or wrong - unless they are put through some positive or negative conditioning - they mostly behave on the defensive when they are scared.

The reason why I am bitching about this is because I nearly got chased by a dog today while running. Small dog, but nevertheless terribly irresponsible of the owner. I love dogs but owners need to take control of it. If your dog doesnt like to be leashed, then dont bring it out!