My Motivation to Run
The signs were all there, but I chose to ignore them.
My breathing became heavier. Sometimes I literally dragging my feet at work.
My shirts getting tighter. I had to loose up my belt up a notch of the holes.
The worst feeling was when Dahlia hugged me around the waist and 'complimented':
"Eeeiiii, geramnyeee. Macam teddybear."
It was confirmed when I weighed my weight at the gym. I had became heavier. At 66kg, it was the heaviest that I have ever been.
The number is not significant enough to make me as an overweight person, but as a man with height just at 160cm any increase of weight will have a significant impact. I can already see the small buncit popping out.
It was 58 seven years ago when I got engaged to Dahlia.
Two years later when we got married I was at 60.
For the most time for the past five years it hovered around 63.
And now it had breached 65. So basically I have become heavier 1kg per year after I got married. The curse of a married man?
When I was still single I would go to my local gym almost five days per week. But at 58kg I was too skinny. Even though I 'almost' achieve a flat board abs, it didn't really matter since I can't get bulky enough.
My routine for the daily dose of adrenaline was interrupted once I got married. It became harder once Haziq was born. Becoming fit and a family man didn't go hand to hand. Any married couple with kids can attest to that fact.
For the last five years it was hard to keep a training routine week in week out. After the office work, it was hard to go down the gym or to the road to clock some miles.
Plus with the 'fine' living after marriage, no wonder Dahlia managed to fatten me up after all these years.
My breathing became heavier. Sometimes I literally dragging my feet at work.
My shirts getting tighter. I had to loose up my belt up a notch of the holes.
The worst feeling was when Dahlia hugged me around the waist and 'complimented':
"Eeeiiii, geramnyeee. Macam teddybear."
It was confirmed when I weighed my weight at the gym. I had became heavier. At 66kg, it was the heaviest that I have ever been.
The number is not significant enough to make me as an overweight person, but as a man with height just at 160cm any increase of weight will have a significant impact. I can already see the small buncit popping out.
It was 58 seven years ago when I got engaged to Dahlia.
Two years later when we got married I was at 60.
For the most time for the past five years it hovered around 63.
And now it had breached 65. So basically I have become heavier 1kg per year after I got married. The curse of a married man?
When I was still single I would go to my local gym almost five days per week. But at 58kg I was too skinny. Even though I 'almost' achieve a flat board abs, it didn't really matter since I can't get bulky enough.
My routine for the daily dose of adrenaline was interrupted once I got married. It became harder once Haziq was born. Becoming fit and a family man didn't go hand to hand. Any married couple with kids can attest to that fact.
For the last five years it was hard to keep a training routine week in week out. After the office work, it was hard to go down the gym or to the road to clock some miles.
Plus with the 'fine' living after marriage, no wonder Dahlia managed to fatten me up after all these years.
But these vicious cycle need to end. I have some really difficult runs already lined up this year started from next month.
In May it'll be the Sultan Azlan Shah Run in Kuala Kangsar. The 15km event will be my first run longer than 12km.
Then in June it'll be the Malaysia Sundown Run in Nusajaya. This event will be the first Sundown event in Malaysia. I'll only join the 12km event though.
After Raya, maybe I'll join the run in Petaling Jaya. Still not confirm yet and I still didn't rope in Iqbal into this.
Then it will the mother of all runs for me this year. The BSN Night Run in October. Why? Because this will be my first distance half marathon run, a 21km event.
After that, I reserve the end of 2014 for the JB 10K Run event. It is still not being announced yet, but it was the best running event that I had last year. It'll be worth the wait.
So there are two very strong reasons that motivated me to change myself this month. Remain unchanged will spell disaster for me for the runs lined up this year. Went to a critical thinking training recently. Applying what I had learned to solve my training routine issue seems to be working. It was not really that hard after all.
Previously I had planned my routine too idealistic until I can't follow it week in week out. Usually I only managed to follow it consistently no more than two weeks. This time I had laid it out realistically as much as possible.
I also had add some interesting change to my running route. Instead of putting up with my usual route near my house, I tried out the route nearby the Istana Bukit Serene - the Padang Merdeka near JB town. It was not disappointing.
The area is a recreational place nearby the Johor Palace. Running circling the whole area will get you 1.2km. I was trying to run more than my usual 5km. Let's say 7km? That would be about 5.8 rounds of the place. The feeling after finishing the 7km run on the Sunday morning was exhilarating.
There was not much gradian so that is good to prevent injury. But there was a small hilly climb that is good for training for the real running event challenge. Not much, but enough to test my mettle to complete my 7km run.
The best was the people. On Sundays there were a lot of Johoreans that spend their morning at the field. There is also the senam robik that being organized by MBJB. Since there was a lot of people running along, the motivation to complete my 7km run was high.
I had set my routine to start on Tuesdays:
Tuesday: Hit the gym after evening. Run 1km on the treadmill with the ankle weight on my left ankle. Do some weight lifting.
Wednesday: Run 3km before work. Do some resistance training.
Thursday: Rest day.
Friday: Same as Tuesday.
Saturday: Run 5km in the morning. Do some resistance training.
Sunday: Run 7km at Padang Merdeka.
Monday: Rest day.
The routine is tilted towards the weekend. It is the only logical thing to do. I only need to run once in the morning during the weekdays. When I changed my time to the gym after evening, I didn't have to fight to the treadmill and managed to finish the workout less than one hour. I also manage to rest for 60 hours between the sets.
Another plus during these changes that I have make is to get some new accessories to assist during the exercises. My first purchase was the drink shaker.
I always have some protein drinks after workouts. I usually picks chocolate flavor and the thing with protein drinks is that we need to mix it with cold water. It tend not to mix properly if you prepare it normally with mugs. That is where the shaker come along.
Shakers have some sort of webbing to help mix the protein drinks properly. No more wastage after this. And the shaker that I bought have this extra compartment to put the drink powder for traveling purposes. The cold drink after the workouts never taste better.
The second gear that I'm trying to get is the hydration running belt and this is hard to get. If I want to run distance runs in the future, I need to take extra caution with the hydration during running. Without proper hydration, I may not even get to the finish line.
The problem with the hydration running belt is that it is a very niche product that even to get it online in Malaysia is a problem. I had tried to get it at the stores in JB while Iqbal at the nearby stores near his house but to no avail.
And the price is extranomical. For the 4 bottles holder belt, the price is even higher than my running shoes. I'm right now is contemplating but I'm still not giving hope yet.
So you might half expect me to tell you that everything went fine and I had lose some weight. Not exactly. Nothing is as simple when it comes to something like this.
The hardest was in the third week. When I'm running every joints in my feet hurt. My body craves energy. For the whole week I was lethargic at work. But I need to persevere. I mean... it is way much better than hearing your SO says:
"Eeeiiii, geramnyeee. Macam teddybear."
Then in June it'll be the Malaysia Sundown Run in Nusajaya. This event will be the first Sundown event in Malaysia. I'll only join the 12km event though.
After Raya, maybe I'll join the run in Petaling Jaya. Still not confirm yet and I still didn't rope in Iqbal into this.
Then it will the mother of all runs for me this year. The BSN Night Run in October. Why? Because this will be my first distance half marathon run, a 21km event.
After that, I reserve the end of 2014 for the JB 10K Run event. It is still not being announced yet, but it was the best running event that I had last year. It'll be worth the wait.
So there are two very strong reasons that motivated me to change myself this month. Remain unchanged will spell disaster for me for the runs lined up this year. Went to a critical thinking training recently. Applying what I had learned to solve my training routine issue seems to be working. It was not really that hard after all.
Previously I had planned my routine too idealistic until I can't follow it week in week out. Usually I only managed to follow it consistently no more than two weeks. This time I had laid it out realistically as much as possible.
I also had add some interesting change to my running route. Instead of putting up with my usual route near my house, I tried out the route nearby the Istana Bukit Serene - the Padang Merdeka near JB town. It was not disappointing.
The area is a recreational place nearby the Johor Palace. Running circling the whole area will get you 1.2km. I was trying to run more than my usual 5km. Let's say 7km? That would be about 5.8 rounds of the place. The feeling after finishing the 7km run on the Sunday morning was exhilarating.
 |
| Running at Padang Merdeka |
There was not much gradian so that is good to prevent injury. But there was a small hilly climb that is good for training for the real running event challenge. Not much, but enough to test my mettle to complete my 7km run.
The best was the people. On Sundays there were a lot of Johoreans that spend their morning at the field. There is also the senam robik that being organized by MBJB. Since there was a lot of people running along, the motivation to complete my 7km run was high.
I had set my routine to start on Tuesdays:
Tuesday: Hit the gym after evening. Run 1km on the treadmill with the ankle weight on my left ankle. Do some weight lifting.
Wednesday: Run 3km before work. Do some resistance training.
Thursday: Rest day.
Friday: Same as Tuesday.
Saturday: Run 5km in the morning. Do some resistance training.
Sunday: Run 7km at Padang Merdeka.
Monday: Rest day.
The routine is tilted towards the weekend. It is the only logical thing to do. I only need to run once in the morning during the weekdays. When I changed my time to the gym after evening, I didn't have to fight to the treadmill and managed to finish the workout less than one hour. I also manage to rest for 60 hours between the sets.
Another plus during these changes that I have make is to get some new accessories to assist during the exercises. My first purchase was the drink shaker.
I always have some protein drinks after workouts. I usually picks chocolate flavor and the thing with protein drinks is that we need to mix it with cold water. It tend not to mix properly if you prepare it normally with mugs. That is where the shaker come along.
Shakers have some sort of webbing to help mix the protein drinks properly. No more wastage after this. And the shaker that I bought have this extra compartment to put the drink powder for traveling purposes. The cold drink after the workouts never taste better.
The second gear that I'm trying to get is the hydration running belt and this is hard to get. If I want to run distance runs in the future, I need to take extra caution with the hydration during running. Without proper hydration, I may not even get to the finish line.
 |
| Hydration overload |
The problem with the hydration running belt is that it is a very niche product that even to get it online in Malaysia is a problem. I had tried to get it at the stores in JB while Iqbal at the nearby stores near his house but to no avail.
And the price is extranomical. For the 4 bottles holder belt, the price is even higher than my running shoes. I'm right now is contemplating but I'm still not giving hope yet.
So you might half expect me to tell you that everything went fine and I had lose some weight. Not exactly. Nothing is as simple when it comes to something like this.
The hardest was in the third week. When I'm running every joints in my feet hurt. My body craves energy. For the whole week I was lethargic at work. But I need to persevere. I mean... it is way much better than hearing your SO says:
"Eeeiiii, geramnyeee. Macam teddybear."
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