Christmas x3....and lots of shoes!

Well we have been back stateside now for almost 2 weeks.We have spent time with Roxanne's family which has been really nice. As for the running part, I was able to walk my favorite route in St. Pete, I really do love the "burg".

  I was also able to pick up all my shoes that had been shipped to the us. I do love the new Brooks pure line. My new pure connects will be my new favorites I can already tell.

I also was able to hit the gym once at the hotel and should be able to get there with my brother in-law today at some point. Then more walking at my parents house. I did find the steps at my father in-laws house. My gluteus are thanking them immensely. I got a massage from...well I guess she would be a colleague now. It was much needed and has been great for my arm and my wrist. I have eaten way too much junk and not enough workout time, so I am getting way to fat, so getting back to Penang and my routine with the gym is something I look forward to.It has been nice being home and seeing family and friends, we will continue our trek down south to see my parents, then it is back to St. Pete for Dr. appointments and then back on the plane on the 5th. It would have been nice to run in the cooler weather especially today when the temps are in the 60's (Fahrenheit). As for New Years resolutions, I don't tend to make them as a rule, I figure one day of the year should not make for changes in life, those changes should be constant throughout the year, anyway. I have resolved to run in 2012, and when I do to run with more joy and less competition, I do want to be healthier and to run better, however I think better might just be to enjoy the experience more. If anything this experience has taught me that I do love to run and I miss the fellowship and the pure joy of it. So I hope 2012 finds me running again and running happier! As for you loyal reader I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted and the joy of this season has filled your soul! I hope that 2012 finds you happy and healthy and as always running HAPPY!!

So I walked 5k twice now, once outside and once on the treadmill. It felt good but I still need to get stronger before I can run. So I continue to go to the gym, continue to attend my physio, ans keep my head up. I can't wait to run again. The Florida runner will be headed back to the burg, and I am looking forward to walking my old running route, hoping to grab some running buddies and getting them to slow down for just one day! Run happy loyal reader!

So the Florida runner is now the Florida walker, but it is far better than the Florida crutcher. I have been in the gym now for a month and things are improving a great deal in my opinion. It is not easy taking off the extra weight i have put on (about 5 lbs) but I am getting stronger for sure. So Penang Bridge Marathon has passed and i am disappointed but not that much, i am more hopeful for February to arrive and the opportunity to run again is just around the corner. Rox brought up an interesting point though and that is the minimalistic shoes i have run in from time to time. i mean the Saucony Kinvara is not a true minimal but its not that far away, I also have trained and raced in the Brooks T7 and i have just gotten some green silences and the new Pure Project connects from Brooks as well. i also continue to train regularly in my Brooks Launch, it has been my go to training shoe for a few years now. I think when I do go back it will be a slow transition and i may begin on some trail runs and something less of a pounding than a road run. I feel like I can still handle the shoes i have always trained in, again I just need to transition slowly. So I am happy to be nearing the end of this recovery and getting back to the original purpose for this blog, running in Penang. I cant wait!! Run Happy Loyal reader!!

So this past weekend was the "Rock to Rock" run, held at the Hard Rock Hotel here in Penang.The run was only 3.8 KM and I thought seriously about walking it and when my nfriend Hoay Jen handed me a bib #...I almost could not resist, but I was good and stayed on the sidlines. My photo skills sucked today, could not get one good shot and missed my friend Thuan Lin Goh finishing all together. Despite all that it was really good to see all my friends...I have felt very isolated as of late, as I dont do their normal LSD run on sunday andmore and I have missed a ton of races. Everyone ran really well and the big race for all of them is this weekend, at least for me it was going to be a big one, The Penang Bridge Marathon. This was one I was looking forward to for sure and it is dissapointing to be missing it, but next year is always there. The fun part about the race this past weekend was the costume contest...I guess it was a nod to Holloween, but there were seperate prizes for best costume, and I-Run represented in grand style, really added to the fun of the event....If they do it next year, I am going as Captain America, or Santa Claus. Anyway a fun day for sure, great to see everyone, and great to be on my feet without crutches...it was a hattrick Sunday for sure...Run Happy Loyal reader!

Blessings and Curses.

Well I got my race kit for what I was hoping was going to be my fastest 1/2 marathon yet, The Penang Bridge Marathon (half marathon for me) This was a race I was so excited about, it is an international race and seems to be the premier race here in Penang! I had one 1/2 under my belt and it was within like the first year that i started running, and I did that one in 1:48...so I was really looking at like a 1:40, maybe even a 1:35...So I got with the Hanson's training programs, got Luke, who is supposed to be the best and was just about to begin the training when the accident happened...That day was both a blessing and a curse...I got to spend time with friends which was a blessing, but this soon to be 6 month ordeal has been nothing but a curse. Here is why...I figured, well 3 months of healing and then another 3 months of rehab and by January or February I will be ready to go...not so fast big guy!! As it turns out the 6 months will be healing only, i found out yesterday at my most recent doctor visit, that I can now walk (blessing) but there does not seem to be new bone around the fracture site, so I now have till the end of January before I can do any weight bearing exercises (Curse...curse curse curse!!). I really am having trouble with all of this delay...I mean your average fracture should take 6-8 weeks to heal, then another 6-8 weeks of rehab, so why 6 months for this...Maybe its the fact that I am a runner so I will be putting this joint through much more trauma than the usual person...not sure but I am really trying to practice patience...it sucks!!
So I figure with continued work in the gym, and a good training regimen now, I should be able to get back to form by March or April...its the cardio that concerns me, i have not run now since July, and although i have been on the stationary bike (40-45 min) It just not the same. Every little bit will help though, i just have to focus on not overdoing it now that I know I am allowed to walk. I need to stay consistent and pray that there are no further setbacks...looks like the Penang Bridge will have to be a goal for next year, and  Great Wall Marathon will have to wait, as well....Run Happy loyal reader!!

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!!