Stroll in the Park Thursday

haha... Funny day...
Hiap Wei and I met up in the gym and I had some weird pain in my heel/ankle.
Surprised Hiap Wei wasn't up for running either but just felt cold in the gym (ie: needed to go out for a run to warm up)
Well, since we were both not feeling it, we decided to walk.
By the way, there were dark clouds and the sky threatened to rain.
We walked clockwise around the lake, noticing runners running by (I didn't realize there were so many and thought they were training for some event when HW mentioned it's normal, just that we don't notice when we're running! haha). Upon reaching the stairs (barely 1/4 around the lake), we decided we had enough and turned back! LOL... also to avoid the drizzle that was about started.

I don't remember much of that day... think we did abs... 2 sets of:
- Decline Crunch (60 reps)
- Seated Leg Tuck (60 reps)

Then it started pouring... so there goes our plan of making doggy paddle history!
We then ate.

-End-

Dance Wednesday

Today was supposed to be my rest day.
My heel has been killing me!! Could be my shoe, could be my various ways of running (trying to run right!)
Could be my cross-trainings... I don't know... but my knees are taking turns to hurt and now my heels!
Soon, it'll be not-so-crazy-workouts blog... Or maybe, still crazy, just not almost everyday going crazy on workouts :)

So today, after whatsapping with Coery Moery, she managed to convince me to join her dance class at 8pm.
I miss dancing so much!!! it's been almost 2 years!!!

Arrived at Celebrity Fitness, in Bangsar Village II around 8:15pm. Awesome class! Steps were smooth and simple enough for an irregular me to follow! And of course, a wonderful instructor!! Was nice just catching up but dancing in her class was a bonus! :D

That's all the sane workout for today...

-End-

Short-Cut Tuesday

Arrived gym around 6:30pm with Hiap Wei.
Bumped into Mark C and FuYi who were on their way off to run in Lake Gardens.
We waited a while for Julian and Dom, but Julian insisted on lifting and Dom was just pulling in to the carpak on our way out.

So, Souren, YiLing, Hiap Wei and I went for a slow run, almost the same route as yesterday but easier.
We took anticlockwise (shorter route) towards the stairs leading up the Carcosa, then climbed the fence back into Lake Gardens. No hill but ran straight towards Deer Park, that's where we parted. Hiap Wei and I continued pass the amphitheater (not up the Deer Park!) and back to RLC. Sprinted last 50m. Took 26:59mins for that apprx 3km jog.

Back at the gym, Hiap Wei and I did 1 round of our Spartacus 3.0 Combo:
Started with Spartacus 1.0:
- Goblet Squat @ 25kgs (20 reps)
- Mountain Climber (20 reps)
- Single Arm Dumbbell Swing @ 25kgs (15 reps x 2 hands)
- T-PushUp @ 10kgs (10 reps)
- Dumbbell Deadlift+Row @ 20kgs (20 reps)
Spartacus 2.0:
- Single Leg, Single Arm, Underhand Grip Dumbbell Row @ 10kgs (15 reps x 2 hands)
- Dumbbell Chop @ 10kgs (15 reps x 2 hands)
- Rotational Dumbbell Straight-Leg Deadlift @ 10kgs (15reps x 2 side)
- Plank Walk Up to Push Up (15 reps x 2 hands)
- Split Jumps (40 reps both legs)

Hiap Wei continued to play squash and I went off to swim 20 laps in 9mins.

-End-

Just Monday

Hiu was first to arrive. Him and I felt blahhhh without Feizal.
Julian arrived soon after and finally, Hiap Wei made it!
Invited Vick along to run with us so the 5 of us started out around 6:50pm.
HW decided on the usual Carcosa route so we took the right turn anticlockwise around the lake, up Carcosa, and climbed the fence back into Lake Gardens. Ran uphill towards the stairs, down the stairs and ran towards the Deer Park. Up the Deer Park Hill and back to RLC for HW, Vick and I. Jules and Hiu felt like doing more so they ran to Dataran Merdeka and back to RLC.
Took us about 30mins and them about 45mins, which was pretty fast!

-End-

Farewell Sunday

Gym today was all for Feizal~!
At least for Adrian and I. haha. It was a farewell "workout" for Feizal before he leaves on his Euro Cruise Trip for the next two weeks!! *So jealous*
Got to the gym around 6:35pm. Did some stretches then tried out my new (chin up) workout plan.

Chin Ups on machine @ 10lbs:
5 reps (for positives)
5 reps (for static, leading into negatives)
5 reps (for partial static but more on negatives)

Dumbbell Shoulder Fly-cum-Dumbbell Row @ 10lbs:
15 reps DSF
15 reps DR
Repeat (3 sets)

Overhead (Behind) Shoulder Press with Squat Bar (3 sets x 10 reps each)

6 Course Ab Workout with Feizal:
- Basic Ab Crunch
- Ab Crunch with raised legs
- Bicycle Crunch
- U-Crunch
- Finger-Toe Touch
- Floor Leg Tucks

-End of farewell workout-

Standard Charted Fun Run 2012 Saturday

A little drama before I begin. 

The rule was no collection of race pack on race day. I didn't manage to collect. 

No bib, no run. I didn't have a bib coz I didn't collect my race kit!

Jon, Adrian and I left for Putrajaya at 6:30am this morning, regardless and tried my luck on getting a bib.

Upon arriving, Adrian manage to find a helpful foreigner who is a staff on duty to help me find a bib. LOL.

The fun started when he gave me a Men's Open bib number! 

So after a few chase and seek, he found me to give me a Women's (little did I know!) International Open bib.

Oh well, I found out I was in the International category after I've finished the run and chatted with my fellow 5th placer who is a Filipino! 

Awesome route, pretty steep slopes, otherwise a smooth run. 

Zumba for warm up!

Flagged off at 8am for 8km runners. 

And the 5km at 8:15am.

It was a fun run. So expect to see some fun!

Scorching HOT sun and carbon monoxide were turn offs!!

...The fast ones... 

...And the fastest ones...

Standard Charted also had a "run with a blind" category!

And finally, the finish line!

The prize giving ceremony! - Best Costume-

My category - Women's International Open 8km

Overall, here's to conclude my awesome Saturday!! :)

-End-

Blood Donation Thursday

Parked my car at RLC and ran to Masjid Jamek. Took about 11mins.

Ate a lot of sugary, chocolaty sinful stuff today :(
Donated 350ml due to slightly low blood pressure (100/63 & 106/60).

Took monorail back to Masjid Jamek and ran back to RLC in 11:36mins.

Non-existent workout, relaxing day today!

-End-

8k Wednesday

Ran with Hiu, Feizal and Aziz clockwise around the lake.
Climbed the fence and ran up Carcosa, then back into Lake Gardens through the stairs.
Continued anticlockwise round the lake and went up 179 steps to the Tun Razak Memorial. Peter joined us here.
Ran past Bird Park and down towards the National Mosque.
Followed the windy road and back into Lake gardens, passing the amphitheater on our right.
Feizal and Peter continued towards right without entering Lake Gardens and back to RLC.
Aziz, Hiu and I continued one more round around the lake and up the slope then finally back to RLC.
Total run time : 59mins.

Did Chin Ups (lost count!) on the machine at 15weights, tried doing to failure... working on new program.

-End-

Ridiculously BLAH Tuesday

Arrived at the gym around 7:50pm. The guys (Hiu, Yong Wei, Hiap Wei, Dom and Julian) were all done running and were chilling by the poolside.

Ordered a coconut and chilled with them for a bit.

In the gym, did pathetic amount of workouts...

Squats-Deadlift combo (3 sets x 15 reps each, alt)

7 Chin Ups (5 with Hiap Wei spotting me)

2 Ab Stations with Hiap Wei - Decline Ab Bench and Seated Leg Tuck (2 sets x 60 reps each)

-End-

Gung-Ho Monday!!

Gah!! Just found out I've been spelling the wrong name for "Hew"!! It's actually H-I-U!!

And he asked why did I need the spelling for...LOL.

Arrived at the gym around 6:11pm. Feizal and Adrian was already there. Minutes later, Hiu walked in.

(it looks weird seeing Hiu after all these time spelling Hew)

Initially, I was going to lift. Got some inspirations and was gonna do some hardcore muscle-killer-workouts! But instead, I succumbed to running.

Did some warm up - the Single Leg Deadlift to shoulder press with Li Hui and Adrian.

Hiu, Feizal, Aziz, Adrian and I agreed on a SLOW run. These few last runs, we actually honored the word "slow". Started off the same route - clockwise to the fence, climbed over to the road leading up to Carcosa and back into Lake Gardens through the stairs (this was at 16mins, reminding each other when one is too fast). Continued anticlockwise around the lake and up towards the Deer Park. But instead of going up the Deer Park Hill, we went straight on the upward-slope road instead, passing the amphitheater on the left; took a left and headed back to RLC. All that took us 00:34:29, about 5km.

Did 5 Chin Ups before having to leave for the Youth Sub-Committee Meeting at 7:30pm.

After the meeting, around 8:50pm, Hiu, Feizal and I ran 20mins to downtown KL, behind Tune Hotel to help out with Soup Kitchen. It was an interesting experience! So many homeless people queuing up to receive food and drinks. Today was special as HSBC donated toiletries! We helped distribute drinks till about 9:45pm and ran back to RLC in 19:55mins. 

Actually debated to stay for another round of workout but the gym was closing and was getting late... so we all went home.

-End- 

Freaky Friday

Arrived at RLC late again but bumped into Feizal on his way out to run!!
So he waited for me and Julian.

We did at least 10mph running clockwise around the lake, climbed the fence up Carcosa, down the stairs back into Lake Gardens. Then ran anticlockwise around the lake and back to RLC.
I'd say we ran at least 4km, maybe more, in 00:29:59!! Good run!

Back at the gym, I did three sets of Squats with 10kgs, 12 reps each set.
Followed by three sets of Dumbbell Dead Lifts (20kgs), 15 reps each set.
Next was three sets of the Push-Up & Row (20kgs), 10 reps.
Then I did three sets of the Single-Leg Deadlift to Shoulder Press (10kgs), 10 reps each leg.

Three sets of three baby Chin Ups.
-End-

Cardio Wednesday!

Swam 3km at PJ Palms at 3pm. Took about 49minutes.

Arrived at RLC's gym around 7pm.
Did one round of Spartacus 3.0 with Feizal, Adrian, and Eugene.
From Spartacus 1.0:
- Goblet Squat (20 reps)
- Mountain Climber (20 reps x 2 legs)
- Single Arm Dumbbell Swing (15 reps x 2 hand)
- T-PushUp (10 reps)
- Dumbbell Row (20 reps)
From Spartacus 2.0:
- Single-Arm, Single-Leg, Underhand Grip Dumbbell Row (2 x 20 reps)
- Rotational dumbbell straight-leg deadlifts (2 x 20 reps)
- Dumbbell Chop (2 x 20 reps)
- Plank to push up position (15 reps x 2 hands)
- Split Jumps (40 reps)

Ran on treadmill for 20mins@10mph; KS corrected my running style.

Relaxing Monday, Hectic Tuesday

Decided to combine both since Monday's is only one sentence long.

Monday: Did 35mins of Yoga with Julian.

-End-

Tuesday: Arrived at the gym in time for a run! Did a slow 50min run with Intan, Hew, and Ann.
Clockwise around the lake, climbed the fence for backwards Carcosa, down the stairs into Lake Gardens, anticlockwise around the lake (Ann continued one more round around the lake).
Hew, Intan and I continued up the winding jogging path on the hill (did some sprint with Hew), then sprinted up the stairs... *breathless*... and ran back to RLC.

Back at the gym, we did Jon's crossfit workout. Legs:
One minute : first do ONE squat with the bar.
Second minute: TWO Squats.
And the reps increase every minute.
I only managed up to 10 reps on the 10th one minute duration!

Swam about 45-50 laps (lost count!) in 21mins.

-End-

Lazy Thursday

Super lazy day!
I blame it on the jam!! Ridiculous KL after work JAM!!! Took me a good 50mins to arrive to my supposedly 15min destination!! *gah* Spoil all mood to workout... almost, not all!

Arrived at the gym around 6:30pm. Feizal and Uncle Mike was there. The rain just stopped and it was misty.
We agreed to NOT run today (after running for the past 3 days). Just as Ann whatsapped saying that she won't be running either and that she's on her way to the gym, I replied that we (Feizal and I) will be doing one round of Spartacus. Suddenly, Aziz came and asked if we're running. We a split second change of plans, we were at the meeting point outside Garden Cafe...waiting for Ann! It was hilarious how things turned out...she bumped into Feizal on the way in, so they were waiting for her as I got to the meeting point, both amused especially right after we stated our recent plan! haha

We ran the same route as yesterday. Slight confusion midway but I didn't want to be sucked into temptation to run the longer route... So, we ran clockwise around the lake, Feiz and I climbed the fence up the Carcosa, while Aziz and Ann carried on around the lake. It was very misty in Lake Gardens...Felt unreal! Kinda like out of a fairytale garden... beautiful! From the Carcosa, we took the stairs down, back into Lake Gardens. Ran up the slope and back to RLC. Barely 5mins after arriving at the gym, Aziz came walking in! He must've sprinted the whole way as he did one round around the lake, up the Deer park, and back into RLC! 10mins later, Ann came back after 2 whole rounds around the lake! Dang...these people can run!
Feizal and I took 23 mins today. Slow and relaxing run :)

As mentioned, LAZY day. So no weights, no Spartacus, just back bends and an attempted headstand with Julian. The first headstand, uncounted for, was an epic fail. legs were flying all over, wrist on the verge of a sprain, got a headache, Julian's hand got kicked... Second attempt was much calmer and I managed to hold still without the wall for about 5 seconds before I started giggling.

Backbends. Surprisingly, addictive. I attempted 5. Bend over backwards, and come back up. Figured it has lots to do with quads. So that's the next focus. Squats. I also notice my shoulders are getting weaker.
Rear right deltoid still aches from those few pathetic swings of the squash racquet two days ago!

Swam 40 laps x 25m in 21mins. Either I counted less yesterday or I swam extra laps today. 3 mins diff!

-End-

Countdown: 10 days to Tri-Factor Series 2012 Swim Event in Singapore!!! :D

Quickie Wednesday

As predicted, it rained.
Was still drizzling when I got to the gym around 6:30pm.
Was so out of it, tired, whole body sore and just didn't have any mood to workout... *yawn*
Surprisingly, it wasn't just me... Feizal and Hew were there too. Feizal feeling similar..

Did some stretches and 3 sets of Squats (with the bar) - Front and Back, 10 reps each.

Mark1, Feizal, Hew and I went for short 21min run. We ran clockwise around the lake, climbed the fence and ran up Carcosa. Came back into Lake Gardens through the stairs, and up the slope back to RLC. Total about 2.8km.

Back at the gym, we did 2 minutes of plank with Julian and Li Hui.
Then all of us: Hew, Julian, Li Hui, Feizal, Mark and I did the 8 course ab workout:
- Basic Crunch (30 reps)
- Basic Crunch with legs up (30 reps)
- Rolling Crunch (60 reps)
- Bicycle (60 reps)
- Right side hip raise (30 reps)
- Left side hip raise (30 reps)
- Hands touch Toe Raise (30 reps)
- Leg raises (30 reps)
- Butterfly (30 reps)

Swam 40 laps x 25m in 18 mins.

-End-

Scorching Tuesday

Brutal weather this evening. I was late to the gym.
Missed the guys by 5mins.
Got to RLC around 6:45pm. Quick change of clothes and started making my way to Lake Gardens.

B.O.R.I.N.G and S.L.O.W not to mention H.O.T!

After all those days being pampered by fanatic runners running together, running alone in this heat was no fun!
Predicting a potential meeting point, I started off real slow, stretching along the way, clockwise around the lake. Passing the fence we normally climb over towards Carcosa, I continued around the lake. Not too long after, I heard my name from a variety of familiar voices!! :)
I was overjoyed and relieved!! There they were... Hiap Wei, Feizal, Hew, Ann, Julian, and Dom!!! :D
Hew recognized my "fishnet" shorts. LOL!
These people really make my evening runs so much more fun and tolerable even in this heat!!

We continued up the hill instead of running by the lake. Up and up till we reach half way point of the hill-stairs and continued up the stairs. I (and speaking behalf of most if not all) really enjoy this new found hill and stairs! At the top, we continued past the Muslim Museum and all the buildings, down slope, turned right, passing the National Mosque on our right. Continued that long dreadful stretch and finally reached the top which led us straight back into Lake Gardens. At this point, Dom left us and headed back to RLC. Passing the amphitheater on our right, we continued down the slope till we reach the Deer Park slope. Hiap Wei, Feizal and Hew sprinted to the top to win the "Hiap Wei Cup". Needless to say, Hiap Wei ended up winning the Hiap Wei cup. Julian, Ann and I arrived soon after. Recovery run back to RLC and picked it up a notch in the last 500m.

Back in the gym, Dom ordered his CharKueyTeow, Julian did an additional 15mins run on the treadmill, Hiap Wei's 15min squash match with Clifton, Ann's attempt on the stepper, and my 15mins of doing absolutely nothing (cooled completely down).. we did 2 sets of Abs Stations:
- Decline Rotating Crunch (50 reps)
- Seated Rotating Leg Tucks (50 reps)
- Incline Leg Raises (50 reps) **quite the killer!**
- Cable Crunch at 15kgs (20 reps)
- Ab Roll-Out (20 reps)

-End-

Monday Blues Perfection

It was a sunny evening after a rainy morning. Perfect day.
Arrived at the gym around 6:30pm.
Mark1 and Julian went running their "pussy run" (verbatim from Mark!) and the rest of us started at 6:57pm.

Hiap Wei, Feizal, Hew and I ran (what we thought) the usual route, initially. Clockwise around the lake, climbed the fence, up Carcosa, down the stairs back into Lake Gardens. Anticlockwise around the lake...this is where it got interesting. As we ran, we talked about route variation and how boring it would be to run the same route everyday! We were running past the tunnel that leads to Bukit Tunku...and we started talking about running through the tunnel, etc. Then Feizal had a bright idea of taking the path up the hill (right next to the tunnel)! So we turned around and ran up the hill. Was a pleasant change :)

We appeared half way by the stairs and ran up the rest of the stairs. At the top, we continued, passing through the Muslim Museum, National Mosque, up the hill, passing the bird park, and finally back into Lake Gardens! We ran past the amphitheater, and up the deer park hill! Finally, satisfied, we picked up pace and ran back to RLC. Amazing day, company and run :)
Took us 52:33:70 minutes for about (close to) 10km.

Back at the gym, Hiap Wei, Hew and I chilled for a bit. Hiap Wei being rewarded with 100 Pluses :)
Soon after Jon arrived, him, Hiap Wei and I started our version of Spartacus 3.0:
- Goblet Squat (2 x 20 reps)
- Mountain Climber (2 x 40 reps)
- Single-arm dumbbell swing (2 x 15 reps)
- T-PushUp (20 reps)
- Spider PushUp (20 reps)
- Single-Arm, Single-Leg, Underhand Grip Dumbbell Row (2 x 20 reps)
- Rotational dumbbell straight-leg deadlifts (2 x 20 reps)
- Dumbbell Chop (2 x 20 reps)
- Split Jumps (40 reps)

-End-

POWER Runs Friday

!!Today!! I can still feel my sweat droplets starting to ooze out just thinking about what we did today...

It all started when Hiap Wei texted: Hey! I'm going to Lake Club soon! -at 4:02pm.
Followed by a phone call, drafting out what we can do before he has to leave at 6:10pm.

Arrived at the gym (already sweating from the scorching HOT sun) at 5pm. Hiap Wei was already lifting.
Still dazed from the heat and digesting the fact that we're about to run in this heat... I was just about enjoying the gym's air-con while deciding between first run, then Spartacus vs. first Spartacus, then run, Hiap Wei decided we'd run first then Spartacus. Oh, he also mention that it's a short run with 3x stairs.

Battling heat, more like, repressing and ignoring heat, we ran into Lake Gardens, anticlockwise around the lake to the stairs (about 2km), ran up and down 3 times, then back to RLC. All done in about 37mins.

Back at the gym, Feizal was there and Uncle Mike arrive soon after. They took a look at us, back from running, looked out the window at the heat, and back at us, eyes-popping and shook their heads. LOL. I know...only a crazy girl like me would do something crazy like this with Hiap Wei. haha!

Hiap Wei and I did 1 set of Abs in between:
- Decline U-Crunch (50 reps)
- Seated twisted Leg Tuck (50 reps)

Feizal, Hiap Wei and I started my version of Spartacus 3.0 (a combo of selected 5 from 1.0 + 2.0) at 6pm just as Hew walked in:
(From 1.0)
- Goblet Squat (20 reps)
- Mountain Climbers (20 reps x 2 feet)
- Single-arm Dumbbell Swing (15 reps x 2 hands)
- T-PushUp (20 reps)
- Dumbbell Row (20 reps)
(From 2.0)
- Single-Leg, Single-Arm Underhand-Grip Dumbbell Row (20 reps x 2 hands)
- Dumbbell Chop (20 reps x 2 hands)
- Rotational Dumbbell Straight-Leg Deadlift (20 reps x 2 hands)
- Plank Walk Up to Push Up (20 reps x 2 hands)

Hiap Wei had to leave and so, Feizal, Hew and I chatted till about 6:30pm when the sun went down and ran. We ran anticlockwise, up Carcosa, climbed the fence back into Lake Gardens and ran to the stairs. Went up the stairs, and ran back to RLC. Total was about 3.8km, in 25mins.

Back at the gym, I did 3 sets of Squats @ 10kg.

-End-

Party Thursday!

First there was a message from Hiap Wei: Hey guys! Long run today? Start at 6?

Then there was an FB message by yours truly:
10km+ run and Spartacus in the gym today with Hiap Wei Chia, Julian Lim.. Anyone else wanna join?

Awesome turn out!! :D

Arrived at the gym around 6:30pm. Pretty much everyone, and then some...were there! 

*parrrtttaaayyy time after 2 days of not being able to workout due to RLC's shutdown for their staff trip*

By the time we gathered outside Garden Cafe, there were about 8-10 of us. Ann, KS and 2 more decided to run a different route. 

So Hiap Wei, Feizal, Hew, Uncle Mike, Julian, Dom, Jon, Mark, and I ran clockwise around the lake to the fence, climbed over and ran up the Carcosa route, came down the stairs back into Lake Gardens. Continued anticlockwise around the lake and up the Deer Park hill. I don't know if it's the Malaysian evening heat or post-swimathon slack the past two days, but I was so relieved to see Hiap Wei and Feizal right at the top of the Deer Park hill and hearing them state that they have to go by 8pm. So run has to be shortened! -music to my hears and a hug for my lungs, not to mention a sudden development of stitches in my guts (prolly due to lack of breath from being overjoyed!) LOL. Don't know why but today's was just a drag. Enjoyed the run tho! Well needed. Then I realized... the rest disappeared! Uncle Mike, Jon, Julian, Mark (had cramp earlier) went back to RLC. Hew was close behind me and Dom caught up! So we all ran back to RLC. Distance was 6km. Completed in about 45mins.

Back at the gym, Jon tried teaching me some power squat workout. Tried it but gave up and moved on to Spartacus' Combo - Part of Spartacus 2.0 & Part of 1.0 with Julian, Dom and Hew. 

- Single-Leg, Single-Arm Underhand-Grip Dumbbell Row (20 reps x 2 hands)

- Dumbbell Chop (20 reps x 2 hands)

- Rotational Dumbbell Straight-Leg Deadlift (20 reps x 2 hands)

- Plank Walk Up To Push Up (20 reps x 2 hands)

- Split Jump (20 reps x 2 legs)

(Julian and Dom went to eat so Hew and I continued with Part of Spartacus 1.0)

- Goblet Squat (20 reps)

- Mountain Climbers (20 reps x 2 legs)

- Single-Arm Dumbbell Swing (15 reps x 2 hands)

- T-PushUps (20 reps)

- Dumbbell Row (20 reps)

-End-

Slumber Wednesday

Feizal and Uncle Mike was in the gym when I finally made it at 7pm.

Started off running with Feizal, Xiao Ping, Li Ying and Adam around 7:15pm. But Feizal and I went a different route so we separated.
Ran clockwise around the lake in Lake Gardens, climbed the fence and ran up Carcose (reverse from our usual), down the stairs and back into Lake Gardens. Continued anticlockwise, this time, and ran back to RLC. Arrived by 7:45pm. Forgot to time but the run felt great!

Did some floor stretches with Feizal back in the gym and finished off with the Shoulder-Back Combo:
- Dumbbell Row (3 x 15 reps)
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press with twist (3 x 15 reps)

Swam for 10mins (20laps x 25m).

-End-