My fitness journey

Long, Long ago:

10 years ago, when I just graduated from high school, I was well known for being last in class for PE. When others ran 2 rounds for warm up, I would run 1 so slowly that everyone would have finished the 2 rounds by then and I wouldn’t need to run the 2nd round. I would also cite headache and cramps in order to skip out on all the 2.4km timed runs. My PE teacher told me that he would set dogs on me so that I would have no choice but to run faster. I never understood the need for anything sports-related. I told myself that I was a music and academic person, and hence I’m not good at sports because we can’t possibly be good at everything. 

Starting out:

It was in 2014 when I first became very concerned about my figure because I felt that my metabolism was starting to slow down and I couldn’t maintain my size of my lower tummy with the amount I was eating - I had the tendency to eat a main course, dessert and drink for all meals whenever I ate out. So, I decided to do something about it and followed the abs exercises on blogilates. She’s a really good fitness youtuber to follow when you first start out because she will give tips on how to scale down the movements for beginners, which I followed because I had no core strength to speak of whatsoever. In 2015, I also decided that I had to do some cardio work as well because I felt sluggish and unhealthy. Therefore, I bought new running gear, since I did not have any previously, and started to run around my estate. It was painful. My stamina was non-existent, my muscles got fatigue easily and I couldn’t last 2km without multiple breaks along the way. My runs were infrequent (once every 1-2 weeks), which did not help at all. The only thing that prevented me from giving up was vanity and health, as well as my determined nature. After a few months, I was able to run through 2.4km again - wow, such a miracle since I didn’t run at all for 6 years prior to that! I continued this pattern of running 2.4km up till 2016. 

The steep incline:

Sometime in the second half of 2016, I decided to sign up for the 5km great eastern women’s run when I chanced upon the race pack collection booth. I asked my sister to join me for the buddy discount and thankfully, she agreed! That started my training since I now had a milestone to hit. I slowly increased my running distances and became more comfortable with 3km. The 2016 great eastern run became the first time I finished a 5km run without stopping, clearing the entire run in 33+ min! I was very encouraged by my improvement and therefore, continued to try harder in 2017. After joining a new discipleship group in church, I found more friends who also ran and cycled, and signed up for a 35km charity ride in September 2017 - Ride to Restore. When I signed up, I hadn’t ridden my road bike more than 5 times in my life. Training together as a group helped tremendously and we were riding almost every Sunday afternoon in order to survive the ride in September. By the time the ride came, we were more than ready for it and it was an enjoyable experience. At the same time, we also signed up for the yellow ribbon prison run as my church was heavily involved in the prisons ministry. That was my second 10km run ever in my life (my first was in 2014 and I practically walked 70% of it). I managed to run about 7km of it this time - the longest I’ve ever run, really. I soon found that I was extremely motivated by races and signed up for a lot more after that in order to give myself more goals to work for. The great eastern women’s run in nov 2017 ended my year of running as I ran it with my sister again and we completed it in 70 min! It was the first time I ran 9 out of the 10km.

2018 - peaking and crashing:

The year started with safari zoo run and run for hope in Jan 2018 (both 10km and when I did it, I still did not manage to run through the whole thing). Then I did the short distance for the Powerman Malaysia Duathlon - 5km run, 30km ride and 5km run. Since the runs were split up, it wasn’t so daunting. I enjoyed the race and clocked a decent timing for myself at that time - 2h 21 min. Still, I started to face physical issues at that time. I kept having sharp stitch pains right below my right rib cage whenever I ran and had to use tiger balm in order to complete the race. After powerman, I was on a roll. I signed up for the Reebok Be More Human challenge, where you need to complete 3 different runs in consecutive months - 8km in May, 15km in June, 21km in July. It forced me to train up my endurance in running since the milestones were already preset by the challenge dates. I highly recommend those who want a challenge to sign up for this! You’ll get 3 medals and a tshirt after completing everything too. During my first 21km ever in July, I wanted to give up at 16km because I was too hungry and had multiple pains - gastric and stitch. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone and had a loved one who got food for me to refuel first before continuing the last few km. After July, I had a short break before my race season in September and October. First came the yellow ribbon run on 9 September, then the city60 bike run challenge (7km run - 46km ride - 7km run) on 7 October, great eastern women’s run (half marathon) on 14 October and Asics relay (10km) on 20 October. I had bad insomnia during that period due to the stress from having to wake up early constantly to train, as well as other emotional stresses in life. More than that, during one of my training sessions on my bike, a car accelerated towards me (the car was supposed to wait because I had the right of way) and in order to avoid the car, I swerved left and hit an oncoming curb and flew off my bicycle. The car drove off without stopping. I had multiple abrasions on my right arm, hip and leg. Thankfully, after getting checked in A&E, I did not suffer from any broken bones, just multiple swellings and abrasions that would take awhile to heal. It was a huge setback as I could not do anything for quite awhile and hence, had to go for the bike run challenge without much training at all. Still, I was very thankful for God’s protection and for preserving my life. I also managed to finish the 60km bike run challenge in 3h 13 min. Though my bike segment deproved, my run segments were considerably faster than before. The great eastern half marathon one week after that would probably be the highlight of my year! I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the race, though it was postponed by an hour due to a thunderstorm. I had a race plan after I learnt when my body needed fuel and when it needed fluids (through multiple trial and errors as I hit my limits during my training runs). That helped a lot and I completed the entire run in 2h 19min. For the ladies, I highly recommend the great eastern women’s run as your first race. It’s very pleasant and the race village has a powder room and healthy breakfast stalls like yogurt, juices and soya milk. Finally, I ended the year of races with the Asics relay with 3 of my closest friends. The conditions weren’t right that day - I had cramps for the whole day and was on painkillers, it was at night and I had dinner before running but the food did not digest in time. I decided to just give it my best shot, but the course was a killer. There were way too many slopes and the incline up Imbiah lookout was very bad. I had to walk multiple times due to the pain from the cramps and in the 8th km as I ran downhill after the Imbiah lookout, I experienced a sharp pain in my left ankle. Thinking that I could run it off, I continued. However, the pain grew worse, to the point that I had to limp as I walked. I continued till 9km then called my friends for help to continue the relay. While they continued, I slowly walked back to the race village and iced my foot at the first aid station. I limped around for a week after that and my ankle did not manage to heal on its own. 3 weeks after the incident, I went for physiotherapy where I learnt that my ligament was probably sprain. I was out from running and cycling for more than a month and was extremely irritated with myself. 

Upon reflecting on my fitness journey, I learnt that endurance sports is really about discipline and perseverance. I grew a lot in character as I trained and met setbacks and tried to overcome them. It’s really like running the race of life. I had the advantage of having my best friend and life buddy train with me, friends who trained alongside me, and who prayed for me as I encountered the various accidents. I still struggle with vanity sometimes, being overly concerned about my abs, how much I eat and balancing it with how much I work out to ensure that my body is kept in optimum condition. I’m still figuring out many things about my body as I train more, but that’s how life is like. We don’t know everything but we just got to take things step by step, with the help of friends and family who walk with you through life’s journey. I learnt to rely on God more when I got tired during my long runs. As I embark on longer races next year, I will continue to draw strength from God, and also to encourage others to do the same! I hope that my journey will encourage you to perhaps start on your own fitness journey as well, and hopefully, that will point you towards God as you enjoy His creation during your runs! 

Have a blessed new year (: