Celebrity Fitness Vs. Fitness Studio Penang

When I first arrived in Penang, I was determined to get into better overall shape. I was not in bad shape, I really needed to get leaner and work on my core strength though, I have been told by fitness minds greater than my own that good core strength would make me a better runner overall... so, a gym membership seemed like a good idea...So rewind to those first few weeks, I checked out 4 gyms, the gym at the G-Hotel, Celebrity Fitness on the 7th floor of Gurney Plaza, The gym at Island Plaza, (I think, I don't remember, but it may have been the one at straits quay...either way it was too far away, blah blah blah.) and Fitness Studio in the Gurney Hotel tower. So my impressions of each: The G-hotel gym, crowded, and a bit expensive for what you get, nice gym, don't get me wrong, just not worth the money in my opinion. Celebrity Fitness, not my cup of tea, lots of great equipment, and if I was single, cute and single I would be all over that place like a cheap suit, but married, old and swimming around in the "EW he looks like my 4th grade math teacher!" pool, this place was not for me. With Straits Quay/Island Plaza being to "blah blah", that left Fitness Studio...not too far away, in fact I could (when I could walk) walk to it, it was inexpensive, not much newer equipment, but enough to keep me happy, it seemed like the perfect fit, so we signed up. Now I have to admit, although it felt small and cozy and smelled like what a gym is supposed to smell like, the novelty wore off, and although Rox and I did use it, we did not use it as much as we should have...I mean yes I did use the (cringing) treadmill a few times, and Rox would use it on the weekends. The injury put the kibosh on everything so.....fast forward to 4 weeks ago...The doctor finally clears me to rehab my wrist, and weight bearing at 20 - 25% on my hip, so I figure I need to get stronger now, I'm getting around better and can do non weight bearing exercise, so damn, I need a gym!! Fitness studio?? nope, had to be something closer...so that meant...oh yes loyal reader...Celebrity Fitness. I thought ok, I will keep an open mind, lets just check it out, so we sat and got the sales pitch and decided that for the sake of convenience and my need to build strength before I got the nod to walk again...what the hell!! I mean i have pretty thick skin, I can take the "oh god who let the old guy in" looks, I NEED to do this. Well loyal reader...I was wrong...yes, I can admit it, it was not the meat market I thought it to be (although it may be, but since i am there early...may be I miss all that). The people were friendly, the trainers well qualified, the equipment was new and state of the art, and there were even some people there that I knew....I really like Celebrity Fitness, I really do...I mean it doesn't smell like a gym should, and its fancy and loud, but I like Celebrity Fitness...In the beginning...
"I would not go there on a bet
I would not go there with a pet
I would not go there to work out
I would not go there with the gout
I would not go there covered in slime
I would not go there anytime
I do not like it dumb and witless
I do not like Celebrity Fitness"

Now...
I would go there on a bet
I would go there with a pet
I would go there to work out
I would go there with the gout
I would go there covered in slime
I would...ok you get the picture...I'm doing the Dr. Seuss thing with it, yeah its lame but it was funny in my mind for a second and i have ADD so it works. Anyway I really really like Celebrity Fitness, it works for me and other than having to take the service elevator...It just plain  rocks, I like everything about it and now find myself disappointed I did not put aside my judgement and give it a chance!!!
So Celebrity Fitness is the winner in this battle of the gyms, and i am better for it.
Run Happy!!

Records at Kona...and Rehab.

Ok, so I figured it was a good morning to get in a blog, since my posts are now at about 2 to 3 weeks...not much going on. Rehab is going well, the stretching and the strength training seems to be working, i feel stronger, and people who have watched my recovery from day one are saying that the leg looks better, not so puffy and discolored. Still trying to get to the gym at least 4 days a week and in the pool at least twice. that changes if I am sore from Rehab though, which was last weeks story. I find that I am eating really bad too. its like, when I was running all the time my body seemed to crave the healthy foods, fruits, veggies, healthy carbs and proteins, now that I am far more sedentary, I seem to crave the junk...not good, but I have been able to maintain my weight, I have just lost and muscle tone I did have (which was not much). Kona 70.3, was yesterday, and Crissie Wellington and Craig Alexander both won, which is good, because If I had been able to put money down in Vegas it would have been on them...For Craig, it seems like business as usual, the guy is a machine and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, I had the opportunity to meet him at a Florida tri event and he was a great guy! Crissie is a Brooks runner, so enough said...She even has her own pair of limited edition T7's which look awesome. (I would buy them just because I LOVE the T7 and they look awesome, but at this point I am going to need a suitcase just for new shoes when we go home in December.) Craig posted his THIRD Ironman Win, and set a course record, personally i would be happy to finish it before the guys were out taking the course down, Which is amazing since he started to cramp towards the end and actually stopped with about a mile and a half to go, despite all of that a 12 second under the course record finish. For Crissie,her FOURTH win, with a torn pectoral muscle no less, and still swam, biked and ran 70.3 to a victory...Not athletes...not a sport...Think about what she accomplished with an injury that would put most Basketball and Baseball players on injured reserve for months!! You have to respect both of their accomplishments!! BRAVO!! Loyal reader, Run Happy!!

Rehab is delish!! NOT!

So Rehab has begun and I am so thankful I made the decision to go to the I-Sports clinic in Island Hospital, My therapist Avery Tan, really knows his stuff and I really feel like he will get me back where I need to be! So beyond his knowledge and assistance is the pain factor which at times is in the 10+ range...biggest culprits...flexors and extensors that run across the wrist joint...holy crap those hurt!! The patella tendon (knee tendon)...Holy crap I thought I was going to jump off the table. I have had muscle pain and soreness before and have had some deep work done on trigger points...this new pain is on a whole new level. I know it has to be done and I feel myself improving every time...but WOW!! I have a whole new level of understanding with "No pain no gain." The other part of my rehab is to join a gym, I had joined a fitness center at the gurney hotel, but that is too far away for me right now, so I have joined the Celebrity Gym that is located on the 7th floor of the Gurney Plaza shopping complex. I actually like it there, it is easy to get to, they have newer equipment, and allot of it, and good trainers. The only downside is that the Gurney Plaza does not have a pedestrian elevator that goes to the 7th floor, only freight elevators, and depending on what has been transported that day...the elevators can be a bit, well "ripe". Otherwise the gym has worked out well with some time on the recumbent bike. hopefully next week some time with one of the trainers. The last part of my rehab has been the Regency's pool. It tough to get to on crutches (lots of stairs). Once there its a good  lap pool, and the exercises in the pool helps as well!! So getting better, getting stronger, and with all this going for me right now i am excited to get walking again...should be pretty strong by the time the Doc gives the ok! Well loyal reader, run happy!!

Well loyal reader it has been sometime since we have talked...well since I have talked and you have read anyway...My progress towards being on my feet was not as expected.I thought as of today I would be walking, and for all intents and purposes I am...only at 20% of my body weight (on my right leg)...so my plans for the Penang Bridge 1/2 seem to be shelved, and training when we are home in December may not be a reality either. The one good thing in all this is that the rehab is going well. I have really liked I-sports rehab, they are part of island hospital. The really know their stuff and it has gotten me motivated again. I am swimming now at least 3 times a week and should be able to start on a stationary bike next week...both being non weight bearing, I can do them. anything right now to help strengthen my leg before I get the nod to walk at full weight, gets me closer to running.So things are going well. I like the time in the pool and should enjoy the bike as well. Just an update loyal reader!

Tourism Taiping Heritage Run 2011.

So its been 10 years since that terrible day when fear and hatred became the norm for Americans, when we were witness to events that we thought possible only in our nightmares. Some lost friends, relatives and family who did nothing more that day than get up and go to work...to honor this I went to this run, knowing that i could not run in it, but feeling the need to support a fellow I-run member and a friend who was one of the organizers, and a friends who were running (My friend Thuan was going as were some of the I-run group.) I felt a strong need today to be surrounded by friends and family and the activity I love most. I was worried as Taiping is one of the if not the wettest cities in Malaysia, everyone says it rains there all the time, and Saturday when we arrived was no exception. We checked into the hotel and our friend Thuan took us around to some of the sites, and we also grabbed some lunch at a local hawker!! Very good!! Dinner was simple with a pizza hut just down the street. Although it was raining on the morning of 11 September (fitting, don't you think) we walked and hobbled down to the race site/finish line. We got the chance to see a few of the I-run group and our friend Thuan finish...Everyone did so well despite the soggy conditions, and I got to see our friends Karen and James, as well as watch Bee Hong, and Jin Ji finish the race! I have found that runners are a very special group of people, i think because of the personal nature of our accomplishments and struggles, we feel a certain kinship to one another. although running is not often a team sport I often feel that my goals are accomplished with those around me...The guy/gal that comes in first, motivates me to be better, because I feel (and not in a condescending egotistical way) that I am just like them, so I will train harder to compete better next time. It is the same as the person who comes in last, that person motivates me to train harder and be better, because (lets face it ) I don't want to be last! To a larger degree though because it takes tremendous courage to be the last finisher...think about how much internal fortitude it takes to cross that finish line last...those are the real hero's on race day!! I say this because even though I was probably the strangest thing most people saw at that race that day (guy on crutches). I got more smiles and had more strangers shake my hand and ask me what had happened. I love the club I am in, not only will we run on a day that is better for ducks than people, we will get up at 5:15AM on a Sunday to do it!! We will even get up at 6:30AM to watch others do it!! That's the kind of society we are, this society of Runners, there is no race, no creed, no color...if your a runner your in!! We don't care if your a trail runner, a barefoot runner, a slow or a fast runner (although you muddy buddy and adventure race runners...you might need your own society...but we will put it up for a vote, if you want in) we don't care, you are welcome here, sit down...have some water and a banana...Gu?? no?? ok... I have decided to remake the Emma Lazarus Sonnet "New Colossus", its inscribed on a plaque on the Statue of Liberty, you know, "Give me your tired, your poor...". My version goes ""Give me your tired, your sore, Your slow and steady, your wickedly fast and moderately pacing yearning to a personal best. The Trail runner, ultra marathoner, relay team member, and soul runner who does not care for time and score.Send these, the sun burned, rain soaked, wind blown, and snow chilled to us, I lift my voice and hands to cheer and rejoice beside the "finish line"!

Rehab and Time

Well its been a while since I blogged on here so i figured it was time for an update. I am cast and wire free on my wrist, and I have started to rehab it, which has been difficult (harder than I thought). The wrist is stuck in flexion so I constantly look like i am trying to do a shadow puppet of a duck. all or my extensors and flexors of my forearm are VERY tight, actually every muscle system in my whole right arm is tight..it hurts to raise my arm, hurts to extend at the elbow. It hurts to do just about anything with my right arm, I push through it as best as i can and it is progressing slowly. The hip is still not ready for weight yet, and no rehab or anything on it till i go to the doctor in another week, I think he will do a bone scan then to determine the health of the femoral head, and the healing process over all. I will know if I can begin to rehab the hip after that. Things are moving forward, slowly but forward!! Well I finally had a chance to download the data from my Garmin 405 from the day of the accident..I can tell you that heart rate and elevation gets a bit wonky at the end of the ride. This got me thinking, Garmin, Polar, Timex or no watch at all...Hummm...Well I began running with your standard Timex Ironman, no bells and whistles, just a lap counter and stopwatch. With my Timex I could go on to a site like Mapmyrun.com and plug in my route, measure distance, then time the distance out...worked great! Then my inner "gearhead" took over and I saw the Polar RS300X...ala Homer Simpson "Polar..gurgle gurgle"...so that was my new toy and the Timex became, well just a watch. I bought the foot pod for the polar, and would use it indoors, while using the armband GPS sensor outdoors, and heart rate monitor all the time...This thing was great time, distance, heart rate, pace, calories burned...it was an invaluable piece of my running equipment...I mean like right up there with shoes!! Then I started to hear at races and from running friends that the Garmin HRM's did not have the external GPS sensors that the polar had, it was all self contained....Oh my god!! In my mind, someone had reinvented the wheel and done it BETTER!! So I went on a search for the best Garmin, checking websites and blogs (just like I did for the polar) and decided on the 305...from the reviews it seemed like everyone loved there 305, even though it was like having a desktop computer on your wrist! Well, despite its size, and I have chicken arms, I LOVE my 305! It does struggle from time to time with Satellites, and the GPS signal in city settings can cut out, my polar used to do that too! The computer interface for it is awesome as well. My only real complaint about it, is that after a while the "dock" that it sits in to upload data does not make great contact with the watch and you have to update a few times to get it to work. I love the flexibility of its interface, you can set it up to monitor quite a few things and display them on the watch face, I keep pace, distance, heart rate and time on mine, but you can put elevation, heart rate % (I think). Now for as great as my "training computers" are...I don't think there is anything better than going out for a run without my trusted 305...It has taken me some time to get to that place, where i can leave it t home, i feel a little like I did the first time we left Brenna with the sitter...well not really but you get the gist of it, right. Anyway, with watch or without watch I am still months away from that glorious feeling of a good morning run..Hey, i have been married for 10 years, you get you glorious morning feelings where you can, if you know what i'm sayin!! Well Loyal reader, i had such high hopes for this blog, but as with me it will come back stronger than ever (I hope). Run Happy!!

Its been a week...not much happening.

Well it has been a week (5 days) or so since I last blogged...That one was about the I-Run anniversary dinner. Since then the group has had a race this weekend and been talking about everything from Ironman to Marathon...gets me psyched for when i do come back! I just found out that the town where I went to school East Stroudsburg has both an Ironman and a marathon...It would be fun to go back there for either one, and with me being able to run some hills here...I should be ok!! Wrist is finally done getting infected and all the wires are out, i go in Monday for another check up and should be able to begin rehabbing it then, awesomeness!! So I saw a question on the Brooks Fanatics page about barefoot running, minimalist running. I have for some time now trained in a neutral shoe, the Brooks Launch is not a minimalist shoe by any stretch. I do race in the T7 which is a running flat, so still not really minimalist. I have to admit though, and this is so hard to say (Forgive me!!) I have mixed a Saucony Kinvara into my runs and although I would not classify it is a true minimalist shoe (The Saucony Hattori)it is more minimalist than the launch is. Ok so why all of this about shoes and such, well the question from the brooks site got me thinking, "how do i feel about the minimalist/barefoot trend". Not that anyone really cares what i think but its my blog so (middle finger). I think that for some with a tru neutral gait or who are willing to learn, its great! For those that have been wearing a "corrective" shoe, pronation control, etc, I think it could be really bad. I mean muscle structure changes dramatically over years of being "corrected" and i would think that to an extent bone structure would change as well. With a FLOOD of minimalist shoes hitting the market, i mean EVERY manufacturer has one (Thank you Brooks for the "Pure Project" shoes...I can retire my Saucony's and no longer be committing a sin... "Thou shall have no false shoes before Brooks") It may become such a marketing push that EVERYONE might give a minimalist shoe a shot, when in my opinion i don't think minimalist shoes are for every runner..yes, the human body will adapt..bla..bla..bla...i get it. For some though, i think that adaptation might take an extreme time period if at all...I know that all the literature expresses caution, but when do we exercise caution, especially when "big brother" tells us to?? Look if this is really a "Revolution" of epic proportions, why are Newton shoes still $250 a pop?? Why don't the big shoe manufacturers discontinue the "motion control" lines? For me the jury is still out on this, i mean if you do the "Vibram five fingers" for your next road marathon, fine, great...I am happy for you. For me,I have to remember that when I was a kid my mom took me to "Striderite" and i got measured 4  way till Sunday...That Kenyan kid, running across the plains in his bare feet ... he didn't. For now, i will stick with my Brooks Launch (when i can run again). I will try out my Pure Project shoes when i get them. I have a pair of Green silences at home waiting for me to bring back also...That's as far as i will go, which is pretty far i guess, i have always had a neutral gait though, even with my right tibial twist. Well that's my opinion, based on some of what i have read, and heard...I'm sure i am missing some facts, but fact and opinion don't always go together...just ask Michael Moore. Loyal reader, Run Happy (yes even in bare feet..i ain't hatein!).