Training like it's 2010...

Joy here...Back at the turn of 2010, I was in Malaysia (just like this holiday season), and as I got ready to get on the plane at the end of the trip, I literally burst out of my pants.  Broke the zipper and everything.

So after putting on some sweat pants with a stretchy waist band and getting on the plane, my friend Nomi and I decided to train for our first ever running race, a 10km race that I am proud to say we both finished at the end of May 2010 in less than 60 minutes.

I've now gone on to run other races, including a couple of half marathons, and competed in bike races, while Nomi has finished a couple of half marathons and a couple of full marathons since that fat 2010 January.

The canal by our house.

Now it's January 2013 and I would probably burst out of those pants again.  I've since had the zipper fixed on them, but I'm too afraid to try them on, lest I bust them once again!  I'm just taking it on faith that I'm probably right back to where I was back in 2010, but instead of feeling down with that realization, I actually feel a bit buoyed up by it.  I kinda feel like "well, I've been here before, and I got back from it, so I'll do that again."  And when I was training for that first ever 10km running race, I had no experience of training, no experience of racing, no real sense for running, and I was living in a different city from my husband.  Now I've got a number of races under my belt which gives me a great degree of confidence; I live with my husband (which makes me much happier and less prone to chocolate); and I've got Coach Andrew (bike) and Coach Woods (running) onside to help me out.

So I have everything going for me this January.

So when Coach Woods scheduled a 50 minute run for me for this Monday, and Coach Andrew told me to make sure I take it easy and pull up before 50 minutes if need be, I was feeling all set for the run.

Yes, that's me, and yes I'm smiling even though it's winter.

Out the door onto the cleared canal path where some of the mountains of snow have started to melt I went.  I had The Man by my side, and we soon found our groove, feeling more springy than we have any right to feel given our out-of-shape-post-Christmas-fattiness.  We chatted the whole way, strategizing life, and before we knew it, we had run 45 minutes and were almost home.  We stopped at the 45 minute mark and walked the rest of the way back home, and I felt invigorated by the run.  I feel like I might just be on the verge of getting my body back from its out-of-shapeness.

And if I can get my body back, then it means I'll feel happier, more productive, and generally better all around.

Who knows?  I might even start to make friends with winter.

Over and out,
Joy

Getting Back on Track...Watch out 2013!

Joy here...Okay, I've been back in Canada for two weeks now, and it's time to update the blog.  At first I wasn't really updating because I was sick and jet lagged, and I didn't have much to say.  I was also nursing my knee and taking things a bit easy.  Then I didn't update, because all I really felt like doing was whinging about the fact that I left the tropics behind and came back to frigid winter.

The frozen landscape greeting us upon our return to Canada.

But I figured that no one wants to read about some crazy, whining lady who has nothing better to do than rant about the weather.  My mom always used to say "if you don't have anything nice to say, just don't say anything at all."  Those are wise words coming from a kindergarten teacher who raised 4 kids of her own.

So I guess following the wisdom of my mom, I just kept myself quiet.

Now, I think I'm ready to weigh in with a bit of a more balanced perspective, as I've tried to get rid of my Christmas buddha belly by getting back into the swing of things with both my running and cycling. Since returning, I've done a few rides on my trainer in the basement and a couple of sessions with Coach Woods and the rest of the running crew he trains.

The dome where we do our indoor workouts.

All of that has happened indoors.

Indoors?  You might ask.  Well, as you know, I've got my bike set up on a trainer in my basement, poised in front of the TV, so that I can ride in the warmth of my house, even in the deepest, darkest moments of winter.

And as it turns out, Coach Woods has arranged for us to do our workouts indoors at an indoor track.  For those of you in warmer climes, you may not have ever seen a "dome" like the track where we do our workouts.  Basically it's like a big, inflated balloon, and inside the balloon it's nice and toasty warm, and we can do our workouts along with other people (mainly kids playing soccer) on a Saturday morning.

The view inside the dome, with fields in the centre
and a 400m running track around the perimeter.

So for the last two Saturdays since returning from the balmy tropics (sigh), we have gotten up and headed out to train with Coach Wood's crew (we're toying with the idea of calling ourselves "Mike's Machines"; there's even talk of getting shirts...yes, we're all nerds).

The first Saturday, all I could do was a little warm up followed by the drills and then a cool down run.

The "corner" of the dome where we gather together to
do all our little running drills together before breaking off
to do our individual workouts.

The second Saturday, I did my little warm up, followed by the drills (where I discovered that at the jumping drills, I have some serious jumping abilities!!!), and then my workout, which consisted of running hard on the 100m straight stretches of the track, and slowing down on the 100m corners of the track for a total of 5 times around the track.  Okay, granted, I only made it 2.5 times around the track before I started to feel a little pain in my knee...but at least I'm getting back into my workout groove!

And it was inspiring to see one of the Olympians running 5kms around that indoor track, reaching a Personal Best (PB) time for herself of 20 minutes.  It was great to see her force, power, and dedication as she ran around and around and around in that dome.  And what was even more encouraging is that her 20 minute PB for a 5km is not all that much faster than my 23 minute 5km run back in the fall of 2010.  It's encouraging for me to know that even though I might feel like a sack of potatoes at the moment, soon enough I'll be back up there running to my full potential.

Indoors.

Definitely indoors until spring.

But I'm not whinging.

Over and out,
Joy

New Year's Eve in Singapore!

Joy here...while my Malaysia post and my Melbourne post focus on food more than fitness, it's only fitting that my final post summing up our holiday trip should also turn to food.

After a week in Melbourne, we hopped on yet another plane to head back to Singapore where we would spend one day only.

And that day happened to be a rainy, rainy day...but that suited us just fine, because it gave us just the excuse we were looking for to head to one of our favourite Singapore restaurants located in the historic Raffles Hotel.

We planted ourselves down in one of the cozy corner booths so that we could watch the rain and the palm trees through the plated glass windows and ordered a table full of dim sum.  And there we sat and ate, and finally we turned from eating to drinking.  Afterall, it was new year's eve!

A table full of dim sum goodness!

Dry won ton noodles (soup on the side).

In fact, we were there so long, eating and drinking and chatting and laughing, that one of our friends who is Malaysian but lives in Ottawa and happened to be in Singapore too was able to meet up with us!  The world truly is a small, small place.

After we were good and full from a rainy day spent indoors eating, we got all dressed up and headed to the Marina Bay Sands hotel to ring in the new year on the 57th floor under the fireworks and above the city.  It was a night to remember...if only I didn't drink so much I might, actually, remember it!!!

Fireworks above the city.

And so while I'm beginning 2013 fat and out of shape, I'm beginning it happy.  And that's gotta count for something, right?

Happy 2013,

Joy

Running in Melbourne

Joy here...My last post summed up my running in Malaysia as basically more of a food tour than a running tour.  Alas, after leaving the balmy tropical weather, good friends, and delicious food of Kuala Lumpur for the windy summer weather of Melbourne and family Christmas, I think I did MORE eating and LESS running than in the previous week!

In fact, while I was feeling a little less in shape after our week and a half in Kuala Lumpur, I was patting myself on the back for not having any real full nights of drunken debauchery and unending desserts (like usual).

But maybe I was feeling a little bit too smug, and Melbourne jumped up and kicked my ass.  I only pulled off a total of 2 runs while there, and did more than my share of eating.  In fact, I think I was eating as though I was pregnant with twins.  Which now I kinda look like I am.

It all started with a fantastic Christmas Eve meal at Melbourne's
fancy Stokehouse restaurant over looking St. Kilda beach...

...where my dessert was awesomeness wrapped in roasted marshmellow!

Then we began Christmas Day with appetizers, before I
was even hungry again after Christmas Eve's dinner!

  

And continued with a Christmas dinner
of salmon...

...watermelon salad...

  

...and veggies roasted on the barbie!
(all courtesy of my little sister)

Then we went to Vue de Monde on the 55th floor of a Melbourne
tower for a fancy smancy 6-course luncheon.

And finished up our Melbourne food extravaganza
with a family dinner with the Australian arm of the
Malaysian relatives!!!

So while my fitness may have suffered in Australia, my taste buds certainly did not!

Over and out,

Joy

Running in Malaysia

Joy here...Okay, so I didn't take my computer with me on our Asian/Australian holiday adventure, and as a result, I'm very behind in my blogging.

But, well, that's kind of okay, because I'm very behind in my workouts too.  So instead of logging my workouts, how I felt, what I achieved, and whatnot, today I'll give you a little sampling of what it's like to run in Kuala Lumpur in December.

First...

Early morning run in Lake Gardens.

There's running in the beautiful scenery of the Lake Gardens.  I went running there with The Man and with Nomi (my erstwhile running partner, and former co-blogger at east and west running, who remains my running inspiration).

The tropical temperatures are somewhat moderated at this time of the year, with breezes keeping things comfortable, even when the sun comes up.

What's even better is that Nomi is a member at the club at Lake Gardens, so our early morning run was topped with an al fresco breakfast by the club's pool.  Can a December run get any better than that???

Pool side dining, post run.

Second...There's the joy of running around the Kelab Darul Ehsan (or KDE to the locals), where the monkeys like to gather.  Like the Lake Gardens, I've run around this other loop many a time in the past, and getting to run there again (albeit slowly and carefully to nurse my left knee), was amazing.  The greenery all around invigorated me and reminded me what I love about running and what I love about Malaysia.  It's a place where you can feel alive and connected to everything around you as you hear the buzz in the air even while you work up one heck of a sweat.

What's not to love in running by this kind of view???

Third...There's the food.  Okay, okay, I know that I've blogged before about how much and what kinds of food we eat (Part 1 and Part 2 can be seen by clicking the links).  And even though this is a new blog, I'm keeping true to form and mentioning a small sampling of the foods that we indulged upon while we were away.  To be sure our few 30 minute runs out there in the sun and greenery was not nearly enough to counter balance the food, but even with our best intentions fully in place, there's really only so much one can do to maintain moderation while on holidays...especially when there's such good food to be had:

First lunch upon arriving at the Mother-in-Law's house,
tasty South Indian/Sri Lankan yumminess.

Appetizer of various raw fish (tuna, snapper, salmon) at
Chinoz, one of our FAVOURITE restaurants in Kuala Lumpur.

Sarawak Laksa (like a spicy noodle soup), a standby favourite
of The Man and a must-have on every trip back to Kuala Lumpur.

Dining al fresco at our friends' house (with a balcony that has a view
of the Petronas Twin Towers in the distance).

Chinese noodles -- with shrimp and chicken liver -- at a restaurant called Champs
where we went with good friends for dinner.

Yummy Chendol, a dessert made with sweet syrup, coconut milk,
shaved ice, red beans, and some green stuff.  I crave this dessert
when I'm back in Canada like you wouldn't believe!!!

Probably the most MALAYSIAN of all the dishes:  Nasi Lemak.
Each year we have to go to Madame Kwan's to have this dish at least once.  Mmmmmmmm.

So our record for staying in shape after a December trip to Malaysia is 0-3.  When we went in 2009-2010 I literally burst out of my pants before getting on the plane, and that was the impetus for me to train to run my first-ever running race (and start blogging).  Then when we went in 2011-2012 I barely ran at all, and had to give up on my running race goals for the spring/summer and take up cycling instead.  And now, this year (2012-2013) I seem to be back where I started, bursting out of my pants and feeling fat and full.

But at least now I know that all I have to do is get back on my plan and my program, follow what Coach Andrew and Coach Woods plan for me, and all will be well.  

I hope.

Over and out,

Joy

Flying...

The Sea of Okhotsk from our window.

Joy here...Well, after time in Winnipeg for meetings, I can assure you that I did no workouts.  I tried...and I failed.

The Man ran on the treadmill, and I just looked after my nephew and brought him down to watch his uncle on the treadmill.  That's pretty much as close as I got to working out.

Then I hopped on a plane for home, unpacked, did laundry, repacked, and hopped on yet more planes to head across the world from Ottawa, Canada to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Our route took us:  Ottawa->Toronto->Tokyo->Beijing->Singapore->Kuala Lumpur.

Ugh.

And as we flew over Eastern Russia with the Sea of Okhotsk emerging from the vast and snowy barren landscape of Sibera, we relaxed into our seats and got good and ready for the tropics.

Over and out,
Joy

Patellar Tendinitis

Joy here...My last post identified some recurring pain that I was having in my left knee.  I suppose it's not too surprising given that I've upped my workouts by layering in some running with the cycling.  However, it is a bit of a bummer to get stalled just as I felt like I was getting my mojo back.

But c'est la vie, right?

So I went to the physio who said that I have an inflamed patellar tendon (basically the tendon that attaches my thigh muscle to my lower leg muscle that goes over my knee cap).  She's given me some exercises and a warning to just keep on icing my knee.

Coach Woods has said that he wants me to take it easy until I'm "symptom free."

Coach Andrew has said that I need to gauge things for myself.

So I've been taking it easy.

Which has kind of worked out for me, because this week I've been out of town for meetings (which makes it notoriously difficult for me to work out), and then I hop on a plane (or rather a series of planes) to get to Asia where we'll spend part of the holidays before hopping on yet another series of planes to get to Australia for Christmas itself.  New Year's Eve will be spent in Singapore, and only then will we return to this part of the world.

Let's hope my fitness doesn't fall apart entirely while I'm away.

Over and out,
Joy