Day 1 at Celebrity

Finally made my first visit to Celebrity. Not too bad la, everybody seems to complain that there's too much neon lights and it's too Zouk like but I don't have a problem with it (Not that I frequent Zouk anyway - only been there once for a launch). They've got some pretty decent looking "Rapid Results Coach", at least they are fit looking, regardless of whether they actually are. I've a good mind to challenge them - if they can make me lose 5kg rapidly, then they've proved their worth!

Mostly old codgers in the morning, aunties and uncles. Which is fine by me, I hate people who come to the gym to check people out.

No Celebrity Treatment!

Popped over to Celebrity this morning. While waiting for my brother and friends, a burly man came over and asked if I was a member of Celebrity. He then informed me he was there since 6am and the gym was not ready to be used! The gym was opened however, but members were not allowed to use the equipment due to technical problems.

According to one of the membership consultants, “something happened” last night during the trial run. Hello?? Trial run just the night before opening? That’s kind of irresponsible. Trial runs should have been done a week before.

I guess I didn’t get any celebrity treatment. Or am I supposed to behave like a diva?

Finally, Celebrity!

It's been a long time! Finally, Celebrity Fitness will be opening tomorrow at Bangsar Village II. It's time to revive my workout regime! I've been continuing my workout, but only going to the gym twice a week and running every other day.

I hope this will be a new motivation to lose weight! Looking forward to it!

Tum, James Tum

A conversation I overheard between 2 men at the gym this morning:

A: Wah, you're looking fit ah
B: Nolah, I've got a tummy. By the way, have you seen Casino Royale, the latest James Bond movie?
A:Ya I've seen it, why?
B: Wah the new James Bond got tummy you know, so we got hope!

And to think all these women were swooning over Daniel Craig, saying what a great body he has, and here is this uncle criticising his tummy..

Aunty knows best...?

I've just remembered why I don't particularly like to go to the club gym. Some of the aunties there think they are qualified personal trainers. They actually tell you what to do and what not to do! How annoying!This morning there was a rotund man on the treadmill, and the aunty next to him was telling him how to lose weight. She advised him to do some running, and he said that he needed to lose weight before doing any running. And she kept harping about how effective it was! It was downright irritating, I'm sure the man knows what his own body can take. After all he was earlier lamenting about his shin splints.She went around advising a few people.. tsk.

Sick Chick

I've been one sick chick. I've still been exercising but I missed out on long distance last weekend. I'm slowly recovering, as I refused to see the Dr. (for fear of having to take antibiotics). Been on Chinese medication but it takes longer time to heal. How am I supposed to run a 30km in 2 weeks' time? I hope I'll be able to run 20km this week.

Stil felt a wee bit weak this morning but I pressed on to run 6km outdoor. Had a bit of a headache this morning due to too much coughing yesterday.

I hope to resume proper exercise next week.

Honeymoon's over!

Well it isn't my new year's resolution, but yes it's back to exercise. Since the Singapore Marathon I've been taking it easy...although I continued to workout, I did not do any serious running...the most was about 4km on the treadmill.

Well, it's goodbye to Lifestyle, and I am currrently without a proper gym. ..for a month at least (that is, if Bangsar Village II opens end of January as scheduled).Started the year yesterday by going to the Lake Club gym. It's been quite a while since I've worked out there. I did not realise that they are now equipped with tv's! I still remember those days where I was trying hard to be motivated to exercise but they were playing songs like "Summer of '42" and "My Way". Yawn!

I dare not hop on the weighing scale! Anyway, I've got to say goodbye to chocolates for a while too. Been indulging in chocolates in the month of December. Unbelievable but very true, yes I have been eating chocolates. I've already signed up for the Great Eastern 30km run, which is something i will live to regret but oh well..there's something to work towards. Not much time though.

Yesterday's workout:
3.2km run on treadmill
20 mins on elliptical machine
Leg press
Squats
Leg curl
Leg extension
Reverse abs curls

For the first time in a long time my abs feel very worked out!

Today's workout:
5.5km outdoor run

Handsome One

Hansel and Gretel Utopia

Ok my exercise blog is practically dying after the Singapore Marathon, as I've been taking a backseat with exercise. Still been gymming, but just the usual stuff, nothing exciting on the exercise front. Went to speak with the Celebrity Fitness 'consultants' ( It's in inverted commas because I don't think they are serious exercise people, yet they insulted my brother and said he didn't look like he knew much about exercise, when he's a CERTIFIED FISAF trainer. HAH!). Most likely we'll join this gym, because at least they could give us an indication of prices unlike Fitness First who said they could not disclose prices without their membership consultants. Aiya, they are all a bunch of cons anyway.

Well since there's nothing much more exciting in my so called athletic career at the moment, I've decided to post some pictures of Christmassy Mid Valley. Oh I do wish the gingerbread houses were real and that I could eat them!

Singapore Marathon 2006

I’ve managed to achieve 1 more marathon before I hit the veteran age! Completed my second marathon last Sunday (3^rd December) in Singapore. The weather was fantastic, I shaved off my time by 9 minutes, I felt stronger (mentally especially)..it was a great run.

I felt quite a bit like a lamb to the slaughter just before the race: no fear, no anxiety, just a bit dumb (duh) as though not aware of the torturous run. I travelled by First Coach on Saturday 2^nd December. Took the 7.30am bus. Some bozo girl forgot her passport and she made the bus driver wait after the Sungai Besi toll, as her friend was traveling from Nilai to meet her at the toll and pass her the passport. I thought it was quite idiotic – she must have traveled from Nilai down to KL without her passport, and then made everybody else wait for her. We were delayed about 30 minutes. Because of her we had to cut short our pee break. Several people on the bus were very annoyed, and the lady behind me was fuming mad.

Anyway, arrived in Singapore at about 12.30pm. Checked into City Bayview Hotel and headed straight to Marina Mandarin to collect my race pack. They had no “S:” sizes left so I had to resort to “M”. Decided to chill out the rest of the day so just hung out at Coffee Club at Raffles City.

Decided to pin the bib and tie the chip to my shoelace before I got too tired at night.

Of course, the night before the marathon we usually have our customary carbo loading. A friend recommended this restaurant called “Pasta Mania”….it definitely made me maniac because it’s the worst pasta I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. I can make better pasta also. The pasta was soggy, the meatball was like doughball and the environment was loud and noisy. It certainly wasn’t a satisfying meal, what more the last meal before a marathon!

On race day, I woke up at 4.15am, slowly chewed my power Bar, slathered Vaseline all over, and tried to sit on the throne for a bit (no not al at one go).It took me 45 minutes before I finished my bar, as I didn’t want to have it too early (in case it might take effect before the race), yet I needed to eat it before I left the hotel (as I need to drink lots of water with it). Met Jenny and Adnan at 5.15 downstairs. We were the only 3 in our group to run the full.

Arrived at the starting point at 5.30am. We tried to look for the counter to deposit the bag, but we weren’t sure where it was. After hunting high and low, Jenny and I decided to make a last toilet stop. It was already 5.45am that time. By the time we got to the mobile toilets, there was such a long queue!! Decided to queue anyway as we did not want to run with a busting bladder. I tried to be smart and chose a queue with more men, as I thought men usually are very quick. Alas! The guy before me took many moons, and we found ourselves rushing to the starting point with 5 minutes left. The crowd was huge, and we could not even see the starting point! We pushed ourselves through the crowd only to find that there was a barrier and we couldn’t get into the pen!After a few tries we managed to find an opening into the pen…and whaddya know, we ended up in Pen 1, which was for elite runners. …..BY that time our adrenaline was pumping, we had worked up a sweat already….oh well I guess that was our warm up.

The air was a bit still in the morning. The race started at 6am, and I found myself starting a little faster than I had intended to (well, no choice, since I was in pen 1…had to run fast if not I would have been stampeded) . This time I did not stop at so many water stations as the last time. That’s also because the weather was much more pleasant, it was cloudy throughout the race and began to drizzle towards the end. The first 10km up to Marina was quite good..I finished 10km in about 1 hour 12 minutes.Took my first Power gel at 10km. Along the way I saw this runner of an old man dressed up in a short kimono, wearing a fisherman’s hat! There was also this other girl who ran with a tyre attached to a string which she tied around her waist, and she was dragging it while running. It somewhat reminded me of the German football team training. Round about that time I overtook Jenny, only to find Tony overtaking me.

Between 10km and 20km I was still doing fine. At about 15km the half marathoners turn off while the full marathoners proceed to East Coast park. After 20km I felt a bit tired, but I was able to push on. I think the Coast park stretch is the worst, as we have to run quite a long distance before we u turn back. We turn back at 28km, and I was looking out for my banana at km 28, but alas! No banana! Only had to contend with my power gel at 30km. Anyway I began to feel very tired at the 27^th km, but not hitting the wall yet. I think the last time I hit the wall at about 28km and thereafter had to walk a lot. This time, I decided to employ the Jeff Galloway walk-run method at 27^th km. Everytime I approach a water station, I would allow myself to walk , until I hydrated myself, then I would walk a little further before I ran again. Decided to use this method so I could sustain to the end without feeling awful.

I think I was also much stronger mentally this time. I did not allow myself to walk for very long period of time.I made sure I ran at every kilometer, where as in 2004, I practically walked from km34-41. However, by the 37^th km, my muscles were very sore and began to fatigue. I had to stop for a while to stretch my muscles.Nevertheless, I pressed on and still ran, although I began to walk more than run.

I was delighted when I saw the 41km marker, which meant that the end was near! My muscles were very very tied, and I could not sprint to the end, but I managed to finish in 5 hours 20 minutes, which is 9 minutes better than the last time.

I never thought this day would come, but can you imagine, a wannabe athlete like me has achieved 2 marathons already. And to think, I was sedentary in school and would find every excuse to miss phys ed!Overall it was a good run..though my timing didn’t improve that much. I guess I’ll never be a fast runner, but I would like to add a few more marathons to my running career.

For now, I;m just taking a break this week and will resume running next week.

Final Countdown!

3 MORE DAYS! Did my last run today, 4km. Haven't really been eating that much this week, just as normal. Didn't want to gain any extra weight just before the race ....it would be more difficult to run with all that added weight! Will start carbo loading proper tomorrow..although I had some rice today, I wouldn't really say I am loading up yet. But will eat more tomorrow and the day after.

How do I feel? At this moment, I am not having any jitters yet. Don't want to think about it until the day arrives. Infact, I'd like to enjoy myself, even during the race...until the point where I start to question myself "Why on earth am I doing this?"

Just heard a song called "You can Get it if y ou Really Want" by Desmond Dekker - it's an oldie but somewhat inspiring for the race!

Singapore, here I come!

Chicken rules!

There's nothing like a bottle of Brand's Essence of Chicken to perk you up! I have been feeling tired since my HK trip, as I've not had enough rest..started hitting the books the day after I came back and I've been studying every night. My weekly long distance run (which I'm cutting back anyway) has suffered also but I'll not worry about my run until the day itself! No point worrying now..I can't do much about my physical strength anymore at this stage.

Thanks to TA who wanted some Brand's essence of chicken bottles, I was reminded that I have quite a few bottles left. Decided to take a bottle last night and it made such a REMARKABLE difference this morning. Felt more energetic than usual this morning, and I was able to run at a decent speed without feeling tired.

Must remember to pack a bottle of Brand's in my bag for the Singapore run.

Mental over physical

It's tapering period. Since I got back fom Hong Kong, I don't think I've rested enough. Can't seem to run as well as I did before I left. Now mental strength will have to take over physical strength.

and prayers....i'll need a lot of that.

Starbucks girl

My most frequented Starbucks stores (in order from most to least)

1. Jln Telawi 3
2. Bangsar Village
3. Section 14 (Jaya)
4. Amcorp

I've been told that Starbucks in Hong Kong sucks.

No Men Allowed

While I was away in Hong Kong, my gym had made an announcement that they were going to convert to an all ladies' gym effective 1 December 2006. Lifestyle had been one of the pioneers in the fitness industry in KL, but unfortunately lost out to many mega gyms over the years. I continued to gym there for the last 8 years, as I was comfortable with the fact that it wasn't a flashy gym and they don't push personal training, which most gyms do (and on top of that most so called personal trainers in those gyms are inexperienced and know nuts about fitness)

Celebrity Fitness will be opening in Bangsar Village 2 in February 2007, and Lifestyle made this change of direction so as not to compete head on with Celebrity. Instead they are trying to look for a more niche market,but unfortunately this message was not communicated well to the members. Members were left disgruntled and unhappy, as there are several male members, and even the female members are happy to have the men around. I myself am affected, as I have a joint membership with my brother, and we had paid our fees upfront until March next year. So my brother's membership will be terminated, and I do not want to be left in the gym by myself. If we were to join another gym, it will obviously be a joint membership as it usually works out to be cheaper. So at the moment I do not know what the gym's decision is, whether the ladies with joint membership with men will be compensated at all.

In my opinion, this was really a bad move, as they did not consult existing members, and existing members are the ones paying them and keeping them going. It would be much easier to build the business from within, than to start recruiting new members. In any case, I would have to start looking for a new gym. The options I have are:

1. Fitness First ( parking isn't exactly great here and I'd have to bring own towel)
2. True Fitness (I don't mind this gym but it's not that accessible)
3. Celebrity Fitness ( I don't like their marketing oriented style, but it seems to be the most convenient)

Although I am not into flashy gyms, in a way I am kind of looking forward to joining a new gym...hopefully I'll be more motivated and challenged.

Foretaste of Hong Kong Marathon

I'm back from Hong Kong!It's good to be back to clear blue skies! It was extremely hazy in Hong Kong, it was quite difficult to snap nice photos. All you see is a blanket of grey in the background.

Only 3 weeks more to Singapore Marathon. I only got back from Hong Kong yesterday and I had to miss the run this morning as I was too tired. Anyway, I've done my long run last week and I'm beginning to taper off. I did a lot of walking in Hong Kong, but I did not bring my orthotics along (in case I did something silly like leave it behind, which I absolutely can't afford because I desperately need them for Sing marathon). Walking around without the orthotics caused my feet to be sore most of the time, and what made it worse was not wearing proper footwear (I only wore sandals and not running shoes as it was hot).

Did a lot of walking daily, and in the sweltering heat it was really tiring. I did manage to go out for a run one of those days, on Tuesday morning. I stayed with my friend in a suburb called Shau Kei Wan, which is pretty good for running, as the streets are less busy, and there's a courtyard just down the road where you can see senior citizens doing taichi every morning. The only thing I didn't like was, i had to run on the pavement because it was quite dangerous to run on the narrow streets, and the pavement was hard on the feet!

So, if I ever decide to run the Hong Kong marathon, there are a few things I have to take note of:
1. Hong Kong is pretty hilly (oh ya, my butt feels worked out after all those uphill walks)
2. It's quite polluted (someone DIED from the run last year)
3. It will be quite cold to run sometime in February


HK Marathon will be on 4 March next year..should I?

34km!

I ran 34km today. Now I feel at peace to go to Hong Kong! That will be my last long distance run before the race. After this I will be tapering. It took me 4 hours to complete 34km, as I went very slowly. I didn't feel exactly in tip top condition, considering I was feeling anaemic the last 3 days. I had to take a break from gym yesterday, so that I could compelte 34km today.

An unfortunate event occurred today. One of the men in our group met with an accident. While crossing the Jalan Duta highway, he got knocked down by a bike and suffered fractures in his leg. After completing 20km at the Petronas Station in Jln Hartamas 1, most of us decided not to do the extra loop but this uncle decided to do the extra loop. As such, he was behind us, and I was quite far ahead. I did not know about the accident until I got back. It was a good thing that there were other runners with him at the time it happened, and helped to call for ambulance.

The last time I heard, his condition is stable and he's resting in hospital.

The dangers of running..

Me, quit? Never.

This is a line I got from Bethany Hamilton's website. Bethany's a teen surfer who had her arm bitten off by a shark back in 2003. Yet today, she's still riding the waves, and living her life for the Lord. It's an inspiring story for athletes, with the message or never giving up. She's even go ther own devotional book, called "Soul Surfer", in which she said she was very calm even after that incident happened, as she knew God was watching over her.

Quotes of Bethany:
"I might not be here if I hadn't asked for God's help"

"I look at everything that's happened as part of God's plan for my life"

She attends North Shore Christian Church, an evangelical church in Kaua'i, Hawaii.

I've got to do my long run this weekend despite feeling weak and anaemic in the last 2 days. Oh well. I guess I have to remember: "Me, quit? Never."

Sun's in my eyes

HURRAAHHH!!! What fantastic weather today. For the first time in weeks I am so glad to see the sun bursting right out of the sky. Haze has cleared in the last 2 days..I hope it will remain this way. Pity today I'm not running outdoor, as I'd decided to do it yesterday - my usual 6.6km. Thought I'd rest and go to the gym instead to recover for a long run over the weekend.

Legs day today.

Hurricane Preferred

I had a good 7km run this morning. Tested out my Saucony Triumph. Very sturdy shoe, but C-Cube is quite right in saying that it's quite tight. Although I bought half a size bigger than my usual size, I still found it pretty tight initially. It's definitely better than New Balance 1060 in my opinion, but Hurricane fitted me more like a glove. I just love how sturdy Saucony shoes are. It even feels like it stabilizes your knees. And I believe that even when you're tired, a good pair of running shoes will help you run fast. Today my calf muscles were still pretty sore from Sunday, but yet I ran the fastest 7km I have ever run (Aiya wasted, I didn't time myself..but I knew for sure Jin and Hsiung were far behind and it's VERY RARE they dont catch up with me after 7km)

So I've decided. It's Hurricane for the race.