The "More or Less" Approach is just More Less!

Joy here...In September 2013, once I had settled a bit into our new life in Kuala Lumpur, I had a dream that a cobra bit my butt, and decided that this dream should serve as my "wake up call" that I had let myself and my fitness slide.

So The Man and I started working out twice a week with a personal trainer, and I struggled hard to ride my bike and go for a run every now and then.

Here I am in December; a bit thick around the midsection,
don't you think?
I mean, I'm not one to fixate on weight, but those look
like chubby cheeks to me...both sets of cheeks!

If you've read this blog, you will see that from September to December, my posts were filled with various insights about how I wasn't really hitting my workouts and wasn't really reaching my potential.  I tried and tried not to whinge and not to beat myself up in those blog posts, but the thread that runs through them is a thematic of guilt and shittiness.

After our early December 10km running race through Angkor Wat, when I ran the slowest 10kms I have ever done, I started to feel things beginning to shift and change in me. So in my new year's blog posts (one just before the dawn of 2014 and a tongue-in cheek one shortly after 2014 had started), I began to be and feel more optimistic.

Through nothing magical, nothing special, nor anything greatly insightful, I began to be more consistent.  And what has made the difference?  Well, I slowly began to realize that my previous "more or less" approach to training just produced more less.  What has changed things has been gathering folks around me - my running coach and my trainer - who are very detail oriented.  Put another way:  they really know their stuff.

Coach Woods knows his stuff, and helps me to
pay attention to the nitty gritty details.

My running coach, Coach Woods, has not only broken down the running stride into its component parts for me, but he's been invaluable in helping me deal with the mental side of running.  He talked me down off the ledge when I was beating myself up; he's given me practical advice along the way (such as "I always want you finishing each workout, and run, faster than you started.  If this means, shuffling/walking, then that is what it is going to have to be.  The goal is to always end on a positive note!" and "Like we talked about before, stay relaxed, and just try to plug away and get the sessions in.  I don't care how fast you are running, I just want consistency!"); and he just really knows what he's talking about, so I've been able to trust him to guide me through the process of getting over some of my mental hang ups to be consistent.  All of this attention to detail - both physical and mental - has made a world of difference to my running.

Adam, his wife Selina, and May Ooi.

And then add to that expertise the fact that I'm lucky enough to work not only with an elite-level athlete in Coach Woods, but also with elite level trainers in former strong man Adam Martin and former martial artist Kok May Ooi at Bodytech, around the corner from our place in Kuala Lumpur, and I'm starting to see that paying attention to little details - the little unsexy details such as consistency and form - are the things that are making a difference to my fitness.  I tend to be a "big picture" kinda gal; I come up with grand theories, and I approach the world with titanic-sized ambitions, so it can sometimes be easy for me to lose sight of the small details.  But without attending to the small details, the titanic sinks.  It's the details that matter.

This is what happens when you don't pay attention to details.
All the ambition and potential in the world, and you can still sink.

And lo and behold...by ditching the "more or less" approach and adopting a true attention to detail,  from December to now the start of May, I have seen my body begin to transform.  Now I've mentioned before my vexed relationship to thinking about sport through the lens of bodies, but the truth of the matter is that when my body is looking and feeling strong and healthy, there's a pretty good chance that my mind (and even my spirit) are feeling strong and healthy too.  I see, now, that by just slogging away, bit by bit, I've been able to change my reality, and the physical side of things is merely an external manifestation of everything else.


My trainer at the gym has even remarked on my progress, assuring me that I've made the best progress out of all his clients in the shortest amount of time; I can't fit any of my clothes and found myself buying a new pair of jeans in a size I haven't worn since I was a teenager; I can't help but kiss my biceps every chance I get; I've now squatted 90kgs and am aiming for 100kgs; I have just signed up for my first running race of 2014 on Canada Day; and all-in-all I feel like the future looks bright for me.

Why haven't I made this progress before?

Why haven't I been this fit before?

To misquote Tennyson:  "mine is not to reason why, mine is just to do or die!"  Instead of lamenting my past where I thought I was making progress "more or less," now I'm just going to keep my eyes forward and enjoy the progress that I am, in fact, making thanks to attending to the nitty gritty details.

I'm fit.  I'm happy.  I'm healthy.  I'm productive.  And I will lead my own charge onwards!

Over and out,
Joy