Since the change of management in Planet Fitness , now named as True Fitness, people over there have been getting rather aggressive persuading potential and even existing customer to extend their membership even though their expiry is like 1.5 years down the road. Me……is one of the victim. Interior designed changed…..now more like a disco with a DJ station and a special room for special pass holder to get a massage. Unfortunately, none of this impressed me. Not at all. IF there’s one thing that they should change, it has to be the toilet facilities!!!! The toilet flush is sooo pathetic as usual, the shower curtain looks rather disgusting. And yeah….the shower…. Big time CMI.
On the other hand, they do bring in a lot of new machines – which I hardly use. Anyway, rather disappointed, guilty, unhappy about the super hot Sunday run, instead of going spin class, I decided to hop on to their new treadmill with built-in TV&stereo after pump class. Km after km, watching channel 8/U it did managed to distract my attention quite a bit. One hour is up…I’m done for the day… The moment I step down, there this mild giddiness and suddenly felt like all energy is drained off. Strange…. Maybe the TV positioning too close to me? Maybe it’s just a typical treadmill effect… Nevermind…rested a while, all is good. Conclusion………….IF I have a choice, I would prefer to stick to nature :)
After weeks of waiting, it’s finally here. I was told not once, not twice but 3 times that the first few sessions is going to be…..boring. Ok! Got it! Mentally prepared.
Oh yes…..Finally…… after much hesitation and the fickle minded me…decided to have an official coach.
So there we go, the 7 of us started the first session. Once again we’re warned…the first few sessions will be cold and boring… Hmm…. I haven’t been coach on any discipline at all. Never ever..So, it was a pretty new experience to me. Listening to his theory, demo and it’s our turn to do it… Uhm….Not as boring as I would have thought ….It was ok… Just that like every student, they can’t wait to see the fruit of their labor. So, patience and doing it right is all I need…..:) The next moment I look at the clock, it was 45mins done. 15 more to go…that's fast.....
End of Quarter......I hated it most, especially at this downtime, everyone is trying to meet their quota...bugging and making noises everywhere. So tempted to put up a big big "LEAVE ME ALONE" signage...
Regardless, I was still able to make it to CBD yesterday. Very much in need of that endorphin kick once again. Although the menu was not very appetizing but having good company at times will do wonders. I have no intention to do the planned 4x stairs climb so was prepared to do extra loop around SG river alone..... I would go for stairs at times on my own but consecutively 30 storey x 4 is not my cup of tea at all. Somehow.....more and more is saying they wanted to skip the stairs and happily agreed to do the loops with me. So the 4 of us ended up doing 1 extra...extended loop. Longer than what I intend to...Kena cheated!!!
Anyway, I kind of like the pacing yesterday. Definitely not something that I can maintain for long distance but endorphin is kicking high in the air!! As usual....I slept like a pig....don't even remember my alarm went off at 6+. Body clock woke me up...!!
So over the weekend, I was supposed to catch him in action at ECP. For those who doesn't know him, he is like......hmm....David Beckham? Tiger Woods? but in the context of a triathlete :)
The plan to do my LSD on Saturday night so that I can be at ECP to catch him and the rest was totally ruined when it pours with lightning all over. Nevermind I thought, sleep earlier and I'll do a wee hour run on Sunday.
Sunday came, woke up, changed ready to go......it rain AGAIN!!! $&%@&#$%&*@# That's baadddddd.. There goes my plan again!!! What now?? back to the bed..... Next moment it was 930. Suprisingly the weather is still good. Too good not to head out. I know I'm going to feel so guilty if I don't and wasted yet another Sunday. It was 10:15 when I started but felt as if it was 7am..Niceee.... Yeah..first time starting to run at this hour. I reckon I'll finish before 1pm the latest. Hopefully the good weather will last. Last minute change of route due to the starting time - which happen to be a blessings in disguise. Incorporated some loops and humps throughout that 2.5 hours. Mainly around Selarang Camp, Loyang, Netheveron Road and PR. It was peaceful, quiet, serene throughout. Luv it!!! Yah...I ended up clocking the highest mileage I've ever done in monnnttthhhhhhhhhssss...Yay!
Can't believe it's coming to the end of work week again!!!! Busy busy busy is all I can say for the first half of this week.
Mon - Work was alright, only managed to squeeze in 30mins gym. Thereafter went to visit the cute little xiao niu.
Tues - CBD Fort Canning 3 loops
Wed - Trying to do two sides breathing on front crawl. Ha...Need A LOT A LOT MORE practice. Back to work after swim.
Today.....it has been none stop since 8 hours ago....Am so glad is settling well as end of the day approach and not jeopardizing my workout plan..... Yay!!!It's Friday tomorrow!!!!
Duathlon Extended Version
Why extended? Because instead of a run-bike-run, I did a bike-run-bike-run-bike…haha which I believe many, in fact majority is doing the same. Start point at seletar/mandai was not easily accessible by me (for sure), so with Jodan giving me a ‘no problem’ signal, we rode to the start point together from Yishun. I’m getting better but somehow I am still getting tense up when riding alongside with the traffic…sigh…..
First ever duathlon race, quickly setup my stuff at the transition area asking Jodan to help me check if I have everything in place properly. Spotted my all time favourite supporters - LT & Joanna!! Looking for more familiar faces, chit-chatting...Ready To Go......
Run – 3km
Was it the downslope at the start or if I’ve warmed up from the earlier ride, the starting pace was moderately hard to my standard. But given the short distance, I should be able to maintain throughout. Somehow, it felt shorter than 3km to me… Without long, the ‘run-in’ section is already within sight.
T1 – run/bike
My bike location was near the bike-out area, also mean that I’ll have to run quite a fair bit from the run-in section to get my bike. Was panting a little so better take this transition to catch up my breath.
Bike – 15km
All I was aiming for on the bike leg is no crash, no puncture, no slippery ground regardless of how long that will take me to complete. There was a little disruption at the start for a few seconds but thereafter, it was all ok. 1st lap of the bike, hearing a lot of “On your right on your right” with people zooming past me. How many mountain bike overtook me?? Maannnnnnnnyyyyyyyyy…. LOL!!! Doesn’t matter to me anyway. Undulating terrain along Mandai…..up and down...I’m mentally prepared. Just before reaching the 1st u-turn point, I guess that’s the steepest slopes. While I was happily enjoying that moment of “I can fly” on the downslope, it’s time to tap on the break and prepare for the u-turn. And guess what? It’s the same steepest slopes that I’m going to climb now. Argh…….. this same slope, I hit my highest speed of 39kph and the lowest speed of……11kph..haha…crawling up.....
2 loops done..Yay!! No crash!!!!!!
T2 – bike/run
Took my own sweet time chatting with LT & Joanna while at transition. My first comment, how on earth do they manage to do 90km on desaru rolling hills!!!! Ok..I’m unfit to do that at this current state. Full stop :)
Run – 3km
Easy easy baby steps…… enjoying the atmosphere at the reservoir, unknowingly the speed increase as I approach the finish line…as usual for everyone I guess… got people cheering clapping, no matter how tired must act a bit and finish strong….haha…..
Oh..and the most fulfilling thing about this race....it's painfree. My knee is holding up real well this time round :)
Picture speaks a thousand words.......(courtesy of LT)
**Forwaded from my boss.....
To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't DisguiseYour Voice. !
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks . Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions,Switch to Espresso.
5. On all your cheque stubs, write ' For Marijuana'
6. Skip down the street Rather Than Walk and see how many looks you get.
7. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat,with a serious face.
8. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.
9. Sing Along At The Opera.
10. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You have a headache.
11. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'
12. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Car Park, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'
13. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'
Now, does this make you SMILE?????? This is Called .. ............... ..... THERAPY
"Stole" some training tips from MF Safra (minus the intensity, speed and duration..haha), I tried out another short and sweet sessiong to break some boredem in the routine. (2.2k + 18 storey stairs) x 3. Why 2.2? Because that's the smallest loop around neighbourhood. Why 18? because that's the highest I can find around my start/end point. It ended up a suprise when each sets get easier as time goes.
Funny though during one of the sets when I reached the 18th floor, I was walking along the corridor towards the lift, passed by a few units. There's this unit along the corridor with windows open wide. Late night, windy and quiet, this long hair lady in pyjamas was standing right at the window facing out and not moving at all. Ya, she's just staring outside. BUT it really did freaks me out!! Almost scream my lungs out! I think she had a shock seeing me too....
Had a 2 seconds of panic attack again yesterday evening. Was riding along the park at quite an odd hours to ahem (copyright of someone's term)....'keep the leg fresh' for Sunday. Nice cooling evening with serene surrounding I was cruising happily until crossing a bridge. There's this 2 cats which I spotted them earlier on, lying happily right in front of me. By the time I saw one of them, it's kinda late for me to tap on the break cuz my hands are in the middle of the handlebar. So I have no choice but to swing it to the other side. And to my horror the other cat is just at the other side!!! So that split of 2 seconds I'm riding right in the middle of two cats in the dark with minimum lightning. If only I'm in pilot mode (which I hope will not happen during biking), I would have either ran over them, or crash my bike on the bridge divider, plunging myself into the river ^_____^
I was rather disturbed lately on the fact that the knee problem is back recently. Didn’t stop me entirely from physical activity, just some discomfort here and there.
However, this incident taught me to see things in a different perspective. In everything, count your blessings and give thanks to God. In the last couple of run, I am force to start slow, so slow that I shouldn’t be out there. Sometimes, I even have to start off limping a few steps before the knee finally settled down and ready to go for a slow jog. Also as a result, one side of the leg felt so light, another side of the leg felt so heavy because I’m trying to adjust the way I land my feet…etc. Just yesterday, my left leg felt so numb probably because the knee strap is too tight or I’m just overly controlling the landing. With all that taking place in the first half an hour or so, what amazed me was the outcome of the run. The second half always seems to be lighter, faster and stronger when the body is properly warmed up, breathing under control, knee settled down. Felt so good that I dun mind the first half an hour struggling…haha…I call this…… Blessings In Disguise
Sometimes, we ought to look things at a different perspective. At some point, we even need to learn thru the hard way. Why you? I don’t know. Only God knows. You may ended up having a real bad cramp in the middle of a marathon despite the months of effort and all of a sudden, it is no longer a reality to achieve a PB. You could be at the top of the career ladder and suddenly everything is down the drain. You may be in tip top condition and suddenly being told that you can’t run anymore…..Yes, that’s life. But does that matter? Maybe, maybe not. But ultimately, you’ll be groomed, polished and end up being a stronger, wiser person inside out. Friends out there struggling with life, career, health, relationship…..Stay Strong…..
The pool was kinda crowded. But it was still bearable to do some decent laps with occasional disturbance here and there. 2 groups of kids were having their classes - one on the left one of the right. So yeah... the rest of the adult are all jammed up in the middle.
I was observing the kids while doing my laps. They can really swim and swim non stop with different stroke and drills. And when their coaches (one of them happen to be my neighbour) demand them to tread water with 1 hand for 5 minutes, they guai guai follow instruction. No older than 10 years old I'm sure.... Impressive!!Ha.... I'm not sure if I can do that and sustain for 5 minutes.
That being said, I still don't understand...... why do they have to wear pyjamas to swim? And barely 1 meter tall, why do they have to be train in adults pool instead of training pool?
Test The Knee Strap Run was my theme for yesterday.
CBD is doing interval today which I'm not comfortable given my current wobbly knee condition. I had both the patella strap and pattstrap on the pathetic knee and see how it goes. Was meant to be tight to compress and limit the movement of the knee cap, felt a little uncomfortable at a start. But it does reduce the impact. It wasn't a 100% painless run but it is not to the extend that I can't run. Needless to say, I went home and pop in Dr.Low's inflammation pills and keep icing it..haha... "Runners are stubborn", Mr A commented. I should have let it rest :)
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It has been freaking cold in the office last couple of days. So cold that my colleague commented that productivity level has gone down. I wore a thick long sleeve blouse this morning. The sun was shinning bright the moment I step in this morning and it is still as bright! $##@&#%&*@%#(!@
Can someone enlighten me? Why on earth would some ladies wanna to put on make-up before going for a workout? This was not the first nor my second time witnessing this in the gym's changing room.
While I do understand the 'wanna look good' attitude among many of us and there's nothing wrong at all. But applying more eye shadow, mascara, lip stick before a workout.......hmm...... ok..apart from the looking good, I see no other logic. Unless they have special skills which I don't, they will have to be soooo cautious when wiping off sweat from their faces, making sure their mascara won't smudge, No?? And don't they ended up having more breakout and pimples with sweat trapping underneath the pores?.......