Running

When I started going to the gym almost 5 years ago I couldn't run. I climbed the stairs to my office lobby with great difficulty and couldn't run at all. My right knee was giving me problems beside having to carry such a heavy body weight. I could do the crosstrainer, stationary bikes, elliptical and stepper at the gym but I couldn't even jog on the treadmill.

When I joined GX classes, the instructor always reminded me to do the 'options'. I.e no jumping, no hopping and no quick lunges. After about 6 months of regular exercise I tried running but my joints were still not good enough. I started using guards to protect them. I could jog for a few minutes after about a year or so. My joints got stronger but I started to feel breathless after 3 minutes of slow jog. I knew I was still not fit enough to run.

The fact is I was never a runner. Back in high school, I participated in the 100m and 400m races because they were compulsory. I also participated in the annual Cross Campus Run twice; the distance was about 1.5km. But I was left far behind by the rest of the runners. One of my English teachers asked me whether I was a long distance runner because she thought I had the legs for it. The whole class laughed in silent.

So, even when I've been regularly exercising I decided that I should just give up running. I thought I'll never be able to run like the other gym-goers. Perhaps I was too old, or too packed with fat that it's impossible for me to jog nor sprint.

After I delivered my third baby last August, I drank fresh milk every morning and took at least 4 servings of Anlene every week. It was mainly because I knew my teeth would start having problems after childbirth. So, the milk drinking was to replenish my calcium.

I was also doing a lot more abs crunches in order to strengthen my stomach muscles. My crunches started after the 4th month because I had C-section. Eventually I was doing like 250 crunches per week. I read in some gossip magazine that Britney Spears was doing 1000 crunches perday. Well, I don't intend to get Britney's abs, so I didn't go overboard with it.

At the office, recently I found myself drawn to a few colleagues who I realized were rather health conscious. They took up running. They're not gym-goers but rather spend their late afternoons jogging in the park than watching TV on the comfort of their sofas. So, last month I started challenging myself. I started with the Interval Training - walk-jog-walk. I completed the 15 minutes' session. Breathless but happy. After 2 weeks, I started an even more advanced Interval Training - walk-jog-run. I was rather amazed with myself. I could run. I could even sprint on the treadmill. And I could do it for more than 3 minutes!

Looking back, I thought there were 2 things that I've done right : the regular milk intake and the crunches. Now even my breathing has improved and knee pain nomore. Yeay! Run Lola Run!!!