Pro-Sports

There is something significant about being able to maintain your workout program for the first month.  It’s like quitting a bad habit and until you hit that specific target, your chances of failure are still very high.  In this case, the likelihood of dropping the program decreases the longer you are able to stick with the program.  After a while, you won’t feel “right” unless you get your regular boost of adrenaline.

Well, I’m officially in week four and we’re off to a good start.  Today I did a 50 minute workout following the Total Yoga: Flow Series - Fire.

Actually the total workout is really 60 minutes, but I didn’t know that.  I thought it would be about 45 minutes like the other two discs.  If I had known it was going to run for 60 minutes, I would have chosen another workout because my son skipped his afternoon nap and was awake for the entire workout.  I tried for the longest time to get him to sleep without success and gave up in the end when I was started to get frustrated with him.  I figured a nice yoga workout would help relax me - and it did, somewhat.

Gavin was really good about letting me workout and kept himself occupied for a large part of the workout.  Towards the end, as he started to get restless (and who could blame him with such a long workout), he started climbing all over me.  That really didn’t help since I barely had enough strength to perform a controlled chaturanga let alone do one with a 12.5kg toddler on my back. 

Aside from the fact that Fire was 60 minutes long, it was also a lot harder compared to the first two discs Earth and Water.  Although I could manage the moves, doing them all in sequence was extremely tiring.  My arms were like jell’O and trembling and I’m sure my form was rather poor towards the end purely because I was too tired to hold my postures correctly.  I had to do the easier modifications for some moves - like the headstand and the bridge (though I’m sure I could have done the latter if my arms had felt stronger).  I was worried about crashing down on my head so I went with the easier option instead.

I would definitely have to agree that this disc is designed for much more advanced students.  Note to self: let’s not try this again in the near future.  Nevertheless, it felt really good to push the limits of my arms.  Most of the other Yoga workout DVDs I have mainly focus on core and lower body.  Then again, most of the other Yoga workout DVDs I have aren’t taught by proper yogis.  They are done by popular workout instructors who’ve jumped on the yoga bandwagon and decided to add a yoga workout to the list of their existing titles.

Ironically it was reading yesterday’s article in the papers that sparked this deeper interest in yoga.  And to think that if they had not brought it to my attention I would have been content to simply follow the basic yoga routines taught by the normal fitness instructors instead of looking further for a purer yoga workout. 

Although I haven’t found the perfect yoga workout DVD yet, I did stumble across this yoga site that teaches you the different asanas complete with explanation of benefits and photos for correct positioning.  They also offer free workout videos sent to your inbox every month - which is great except that I don’t have a laptop to workout in front of.  I’ll still require a DVD or VCD that I can play in the DVD player.

Strangely, the sensation I felt after todays workout when I watched Ganga White and Tracy Rich in some very challenging poses was somewhat similar to the sensation I felt when I watched Mutant Man climbing a 6A route in Damai back when I was a newbie climber.  Back then, I had thought to myself, “Wow!  I’ll never be able to climb something like that!”  Now I find myself thinking, “How will I ever get good enough to do those poses?”  And when I think of how far beyond 6A I went in my rock climbing, I try to use that inspiration to quell the negative feelings of inadequacy in yoga.

I might not be able to rock climb these days, but perhaps yoga can be a temporary fill-in until I can climb again?

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I took a two day break from exercising because I was just too knackered to do anything.  I went out with Gavin a couple of times and by the time I brought him home, I’d crash with him when he took his afternoon nap.  By the time we wake up, it’s almost time for dinner so I haven’t exactly had time to workout. 

For a moment I thought I wasn’t going to make it with five workout sessions this week, but I managed to squeeze one in this afternoon.  I did 30 minutes from the Yoga 10 Minute Solution DVD - Buns and Thighs (10 minutes), Abs (10 minutes), Burn (10 minutes).  Although I ended up completing my workout in two sessions because Gavin woke up halfway through my workout, I still struggled through some of the poses.  My arms feel weak - in some of the poses where I had to balance my body weight on one arm, I felt like my elbow was going to buckle.  Other than that, it was a pretty good workout that revitalised me.

Looking back on the week, this is what I have achieved for my Go Workout Mom Goal Call:

Monday - 40 minutes Yoga Zone Fat Burner
Tuesday - 45 minutes Kathy Smith Yoga Sculpt
Wednesday - 35 minutes Total Yoga Flow Series: Water
Thursday - 30 minutes Pilates 10 Minute Solution
Sunday - 30 minutes Yoga 10 Minute Solution

On a semi-related note, I was surprised to read in the papers this morning that Yoga in Malaysia is now an illegal practice for Muslims because it’s “haram” (read: sinful).  The Fatwa Council believes that the chanting in yoga is like the practising of religious elements of Hindhuism and is therefore against the beliefs of Islam.  

Okay, perhaps I don’t really know enough about yoga or Islam to comment, but I wonder if they are confusing the descriptions of the yoga postures for chanting?  In all my experience of yoga, I have never heard anything remotely like chanting.  When they talk about meditation, it’s just to help you relax and clear your mind so you feel refreshed to continue the rest of your day.  So what then is the danger? 

On the flip side, all this talk about yoga has made me curious to find out more about it.  I want to find a DVD series that will help bring me from beginner to advanced level.  I think it would seriously be so cool to be able to pull this move:

I’m willing to bet that being at this level in yoga will definitely make a difference to my rock climbing.

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When I got married, I slowed down the pace of my rock climbing.  Then when I found out I was pregnant with my son, I stopped altogether.  I decided that if the hubby could give up his penchant for fast cars and take up the responsibility that goes with being a family man, then I could give up my love for rock climbing, too (although I still maintain that rock climbing is a much safer hobby compared to racing). 

After a two and a half year absence from rock climbing, I find my hands itching to climb.  Ah heck!  Who am I kidding?  My hands were itching to climb a lot earlier than this. 

Sometimes, late at night, when I’m trawling the net and looking enviously at the climbing photos of friends, I wonder if I could go back to rock climbing and be satisfied if I can’t climb like I used to.  Would I be able to stand the inevitable disappointment that my body cannot climb as well as my mind remembers?  Would I be able to accept the fact that I won’t have the time to dedicate to climbing like I used to so that I could bring myself back to that level?

And as the days move into months and the months to years, I wonder if I have passed the time for such activities.  And then I see an article about Running America talking about Marshall Ulrich (age 57) and Charlie Engle (age 43) who ran 3045 miles (up to 70 miles a day) and I feel inspired.  If they can still be running at those ages, then surely I can still be rock climbing at that age, too.

One of the things about climbing that I liked which was unlike a lot of power sports where being five years older can seriously affect your performance, you can still climb just as well and better if you set yourself to it. 

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Although Gavin is too young to climb at Camp 5, I’ve discovered another climbing wall that he can try out at Kizsports in 1Utama.  Kizsports is located in the old wing near Jusco Department store.  It’s on Level two above Toys ‘R’ Us and Marks and Spencer.

I took Gavin to Kizsports on Tuesday initially intending to wear him out with vigorous play activities and was pleasantly surprised to find the mini rock climbing wall.  Actually, it’s more like a small boulder wall but big enough for a child to get a taste for bouldering.  I tried to get Gavin to climb but he wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous that day.  I even climbed on the wall to show him how it was done but he didn’t want to copy Mummy like he normally does.  Perhaps a few more visits will help warm him up to the sport, or perhaps being able to watch other kids climb might help.

I didn’t climb much - just up the wall and to the right which was probably about four moves in total - but it was enough to kill my hands.  It’s amazing how two years without climbing has really softened my hands. Gone are the callouses that used to offer me some measure of protection against the harshness of an artificial handhold. 

I have a feeling getting back into climbing this time is going to be a lot more painful than I had anticipated.  I saw my old climbing shoes some time back when I was searching through the shoe cupboard for a pair of shoes and I’m not even sure I can cram my feet back into them if they were two sizes bigger.  The callouses on my toes have gone, too, and the black toenail has returned to a normal colour.  It is only when I reflect back to my climbing days that I realise the trauma I put my body through.  Then again, the euphoria of the sport tended to dim the senses somewhat so I guess that’s why I never really noticed until now.

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Still feeling achy from last week’s workout, I decided to take it easy today and go with a light workout.  I did a 40 minute workout from the Yogalates DVD focussing on abdominals, thighs and buttocks.  The workout programs from the Yogalates DVD is supereasy - well, the first three workouts are.  The fourth workout is recommended only for advanced students and I didn’t feel I qualified for that category so I haven’t tried it yet.  Considering I find the first three workouts so easy, perhaps I might be up for it?

Personally, I think the Yogalates workout is too easy, and a little too slow - so slow that I nearly fell asleep while I was listening to Louise Solomon explain the different postures and movements I was supposed to follow.  On the cover of the DVD, they claim you can achieve a trimmer body following the workouts on the DVD.  Honestly, based on the three workouts I’ve tried, I find it hard to imagine that anyone can get trimmer doing such an easy workout.

It’s a nice workout to do if you’re feeling a bit tired (read: lazy), recovering from muscle-ache or just want to take it easy without having a complete break from exercise.

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It was starting to look like I wasn’t going to have time to work out again today, but I did manage to squeeze in a half hour Yoga session using the 10 Minute Yoga DVD.  I did the basic (10 minutes), the thighs and buns (10 minutes), and the flexibility and relaxation (10 minutes) routines.  I might add that it was a lot harder than I remembered and it definitely felt a lot tougher than the Yoga Zone DVDs I’d been using in the earlier part of this week. 

Although I was ready to collapse by the time I was done with the thighs and buns routine, it feels like my yoga technique has improved pretty quickly over the course of the week.  For one, my flexibility has improved - I didn’t feel nearly as stiff running through the yoga routine today.  Although I can feel an ache from lactic acid build up in my arms, there is something very satisfying about the sensation.  Maybe I’m a bit of a sadist, but I always did get a high from the after ache of a solid workout.  It’s like a good friend I haven’t seen in a while…

For a first week back into the fitness program, I think I’ve done pretty well.  Here’s a summary of the results of my week for Go Workout Mom’s Goal Call Monday:

Monday - 40 Minutes Yoga Zone Fat Burner
Tuesday - 40 Minutes Yoga Zone Total Body Conditioning
Thursday - 20 Minutes Yoga Zone Sunrise & Sunset
Friday - 20 Minutes Yoga Zone Sunrise & Sunset
Sunday - 30 Minutes 10 Minute Yoga

Whether I’ll be able to maintain this pace next week, we’ll have to see.  I think it also depends on whether my son will be patient enough to allow me to workout.

Even though it’s only been a week, I’m feeling pretty good.  A natural side-effect of the exercise is that I am more conscious of the food I’m putting into my mouth.  The instinct is to eat healthier and to cut back on the copious quantities of junk food that has found its way back into my daily staple.  Since it normally takes about a month of exercise for any marked physical changes to occur, I’ll be examining the psychological effects of exercise at the end of week two.

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I had the best intentions to workout today - really I did!

So what happened? 

All this week, I’ve been working out after my son’s afternoon nap - it’s difficult to workout while he’s napping because sometimes he wakes up looking for milk and sometimes he needs me to sleep beside him.  The routine was working fine until today.  We were out late and he didn’t get to sleep until 3pm.  By the time he woke up, it was 5:30pm and he had obviously gotten up on the wrong side of the bed because he yanked my DVD out of the player and told me to put Thomas in instead.

I figured that since I’d spent the morning running around the house with my son on my back while I pretended to be a train, that was pretty much my cardio done.  Then, while we were shopping, my son insisted that I carry him around because he’d forgotten how to use his legs, so that was my weight training done.  All in all, it was quite an active day for me so I guess missing out on a bit of pilates today wasn’t really that bad.

It has been my intention to get into a regular workout routine since I was deemed “fit” enough to exercise again after the delivery.  Unfortunately, for various reasons, my plans keep getting waylaid.  So to help me stay on track, I’ve joined Go Workout Mom’s Goal Call Monday to help me be accountable to my goals.  Since we’re starting back after a long leave of absence (unless you count climbing through the jungle gym), I thought I should start slow and easy. 

The plan is to do at least three 20 minute sessions using home DVDs.  Why 20 minutes?  Because I don’t think my son can keep himself entertained for longer than that, even with Thomas on the screen.  Why home DVDs?  Because no one is willing to babysit my son for me for long enough for me to get out to a gym, park, etc.  And I seriously doubt I would get much done if I had to keep an eye on him at the same time.

What’s the aim in working out?  Well, primarily, it is to get fit again.  And maybe, just maybe, build back some abs…

Before I started dating the hubby, this was how I looked:

I went climbing on most weekends, unless I had family obligations - like dinner with my brother and Dad (who was busy taking the photo you see below).  I’m dressed in climbing attire which is an indication of what I had actually planned for the day until I was summoned by my Dad.

I have to say that climbing did a lot for me in terms of trimming down my weight and gaining fitness.  I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants to get fit, lose weight and have fun in the process.  It doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do chin-ups or anything - I could barely complete one even at the peak of my climbing - but you’ll feel good, and isn’t that what counts?

Since climbing is pretty much out of the question these days, I’ll settle for the home workout DVDs.  Pilates and yoga are actually quite fun.  It might be interesting to observe what pilates and yoga can do for my climbing ability without any physical climbing training.  Although I’ve always maintained that the best way to get better at climbing is to climb, it would be interesting to see how well I can climb when I finally do get back into it, from just training with pilates and yoga.

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Looks like my budding rock climber will have to wait until he’s a little older (try five years old - which is the minimum age you must be to climb at Camp 5) before he can climb at Camp 5.  Ah well, too bad…

I guess he’ll just have to stick to the jungle gyms in the meantime.

Or try scaling up the slides when he gets desperate.

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Sorry, this post is off topic (cross posted from my other blog), but I’m sure you’ll excuse me for it once you read what it’s about.  After all, $15k can buy a lot of sports gear…

Even though we don’t really celebrate Christmas, it is still my favourite time of year.  The hubby accuses me of being a closet shopaholic so I guess I ought to confess that I love going holiday shopping.  If you do celebrate Christmas, then I’m sure this is probably one of the most expensive times of the year - what with Christmas presents to buy and holiday trips to plan over the long break…

Well, guess what?  eBillme is running a shopping confessions contest where you stand a chance of winning the grand prize of $15000.  I’m sure it goes without saying that the extra cash will really come in handy for the holidays.  All you have to do is share a secret shopping experience that you want to confess and enter it to: http://www.shopandconfess.com/. 

You can write a story, post a video (uploaded to Youtube), or use photos for your confession then submit your entry to the website above. 

All I ask in return for sharing this news with you is that you name my blog: http://figur8.net/baby as your referring website.  Good luck!  For more details about this contest, check out the video below:

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Above: Monsoon is the route that runs to the right of the cave with the big boulder inside it.

There’s a route in Damai called “Monsoon”.  It is a multi-pitch with three pitches, graded 6A, 6B, 5C. It should be noted that Damai routes are graded a little higher than Nyamuk so you might find they aren’t as difficult to climb (although when I first climbed at Damai, I was a newbie climber who found even a Damai 5C to be challenging).

Monsoon got its name because it rained when they were bolting this route (or something to that effect).  Monsoon held true to its name because whenever someone was projecting this route, it would always rain.  So, too, was it for me when I was projecting this route - it seemed that every time I wanted to climb this route, it would start to rain.  One time, it started to drizzle the moment I put my hands on the rock face.

The crux of Monsoon is just before the anchor.  Looks can be deceiving because, from the ground, it looks like the easiest part of the route. From the ground, the crux looks like a sloping ledge that you can just walk up to the anchor on.  When you get up there, it’s a whole different story.  Most of the climbers I’ve seen attempting this route for the first time were pretty gripped on this ledge, granted that they weren’t very experienced climbers.

Monsoon is one of those routes which was very near and dear to my heart because it was the first route I took on as a project route back in my early outdoor rock climbing days.  I can still recall the day I first top-roped this route.  I had gotten to the ledge and something got caught in my eye. Feeling pretty gripped up there, I brushed my eye as quickly as I could with one hand while I held on for dear life with the other.  At about the same time, the wind blew and my contact lens dropped off my eyeball.  To add insult to injury, it started to drizzle as well!

In retrospect, perhaps not being able to see so well (since I only had one good eye - I’m pretty blind without contacts or glasses) was a good thing.  Since I couldn’t see, I don’t think I was as scared as I would have been if I could see properly.

I don’t remember who was on belay, but I think it was Thin Man.  When it started to rain, he asked if I wanted to bail.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sorely tempted to quit and try again another day.  But, recalling that it had started to rain so many times before when I wanted to climb Monsoon, and the fact that I was so close to the anchor, I thought, “I’ll be damned if I bail now.”

I also don’t remember when I red-pointed Monsoon, but I do remember that when I finally did, I had out-grown the title of newbie rock climber.  It was as if red-pointing Monsoon was the initiation test to get into the inner circle of the local rock climbers’ club.

If I was proud of my achievement of red-pointing Monsoon, the feeling paled in comparison to how I felt when I red-pointed the second pitch of Monsoon.

The second pitch of Monsoon was officially my first red-point on a 6B (albeit a Damai 6B). The first time we went up there, Akmal Noor took us up (us being Thin Man and me). Akmal was so kind to mark the handholds at the crux with chalk, but unfortunately, only Thin Man made it through the crux. I had to cheat and climb off-route (I climbed straight up instead of through the crux which was a diagonal move to the right).

I have to thank Akmal when I finally got my red-point on this route because thoughts of bailing were flashing through my head as I sat in a little cave just before the crux sequence. Akmal had been descending from a route not far from me and he called out to see how I was doing, so I told him I was scared. I can’t remember what he said to me, but I did climb on and red-point the route that day.

The thing about projecting a route on the second pitch is that you’re so high up, you can’t really talk to anyone on the ground. Sometimes you can’t even see your belayer, so it feels like you’re all alone up there. There’s a good and bad part to this. The good part is that no one from the ground can call up and offer you unnecessary beta. The bad news is that you don’t have any encouraging “allez” from the ground to keep you going.

After red-pointing the second pitch, I practiced climbing from the ground to the anchor of the second pitch without stopping. Thin Man and I would do this to train our endurance - it was part of the program for our plan to conquer Humanality in Krabi (which, sadly, I never did in spite of the fact that I went to Krabi three times).

Climbing up to the second pitch is fun because you can get a nice rhythm going with about 50 meters of straight climbing. Most of the single pitches in Damai were less than 25 meters, so sometimes you can’t really get the flow of movement on the rocks going. The only thing about leading up to the second pitch anchor is that the rope drag is so bad, I don’t even think you need a belayer to keep you up there (please don’t take this literally, though, because you should always have a belayer when you’re climbing - unless you plan to solo which then becomes your own liability).

The first time I lead all the way to the second pitch, I felt so pumped, I was even planning to cheat and hold on to a root growing out of the rock somewhere before the anchor of the second pitch. Not only was I pumped from climbing all the way up to from the ground, but the rope drag was like climbing with weights. When I finally reached the root, I was devastated to discover that it had been ripped off the rock face!

That day, I learned something new - in the face of adversity, you can find the strength within to push past the limits of your mind. Since there was no longer a root hold to cheat with, I had to keep climbing without it.

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