LUF24HR

 

 

Kuching's 24-hour low-cost gym

Back to Basics

Working out at Night

The biggest mistake I made last year was not working out at all during the entire month of Ramadan.  The problem of course was that after breaking fast and prayers there was little time for me to do any sort of work out since the gym closed at 10pm.  So what I would do come every Ramadan was to freeze my membership for the entire month.  That meant a whole month of virtually no exercise for me.  Last year I didn't lose weight. Instead I gained weight! Five kilos to be exact.  The biggest fear for me was that this scenario would again be repeated during Ramadan.  So you can imagine how happy I was to discover that Level Up Fitness, the gym I belong to, had opened up a 24-hour no frills gym at Arena Sukan at Jalan Wan Alwi.  For an additional RM10 I could become a member of LUF24HR.  What's more for the entire month of Ramadan that fee was waived.  So in essence I was using the gym for free.  Of course it also meant I wasn't freezing my membership.

So when the fasting began I shifted to LUF24HR. Of course the staff will only be on duty for a certain duration.  Please refer to www.facebook.com/luf24hr for more information.  What is important to realize is that anyone who wishes to become a member of this 24-hour gym needs to get an electronic key in the form of a wristband.  To do so one must pay RM150, which is refundable upon termination of contract.  After the staff have gone, which is usually by 10pm, to open the glass doors to the gym, those electronic keys must be used.  Once inside there is a turn-style to get in.  Again the electronic key must be used.  Then the machine will ask for your thumbprint scan before you can enter.  I thought this was a brilliant idea, as then the gym would know who exactly clocked in beyond a reasonable doubt.  The fact that there were numerous CCTVs also meant that the comings in and goings out of member could be monitored.  I am all for gym members' safety especially late at night.

Since this is a no-frills concept gym do not expect towels or lockers.  Yes there are spaces available to put your workout stuff if need be, upstairs and downstairs.  Downstairs is where the free weights and assorted cross-fit equipment are located.  There is also space to stretch and do other free forms of exercises there too.  The floor to ceiling glass walls give us a good view of the outside and at night this is especially nice as we can see the cars wheezing by on the main road.  There are also lots of mirrors for those who need to view their body beautiful from every angle.  Upstairs its all about the treadmills, elliptical cross-trainers, stationery bikes and numerous weightlifting machines.  I as a rule stay away from machines I am not familiar with.  Injury of any kind is always my biggest fear.  What I want to use most are the treadmills, cross-trainers and stationery bikes.

The machines available are a varied mix of old and new.  There is one top of the line treadmill.  For reasons I will not get into I prefer the older ones.  For me it is always nice to run for 60 minutes.  So thankfully those machines have all been set to go that long.  A neat thing I discovered on two of the machines is that the touch screen can get me a running track or a 5km running route.  Of course it's nothing special, but in between watching the TV screens and what's happening outside it makes for a nice change. Also it can be programmed to go into marathon mode!  Those who run long on treadmills can now rejoice!  I was grinning from ear to ear when I discovered that.  At the other Level Up Fitness it would be impossible for me to run on the treadmills for long periods after 5pm onwards as there would be queues of people waiting to imitate a gerbil like me.  At LUF48HR late into the night it would most probably be only me and all those treadmills so I can go on for as long as I like.

Only way in after 10pm is via electronic key

Glass doorway leads into the gym

Read the small print

24 hours of working out possibilities

Feels like LRT time!

Check your wristband here

My electronic wristband key

Am all thumbs now

Open Sesame!

Safety

Safety is always big concern with me as mentioned earlier.  A lady from the other Level Up Fitness gym did ask me what I thought about training alone at nights at LUF48HR for women.  My best advice to her was to go in a group if she was the kind who feared for her safety.  For me the mere presences of CCTVs and also panic buttons was enough.  In fact there were panic buttons placed strategically all over the gym.  There was even one in the women's changing area.  Doors are limited to the single toilet and single shower.  Both work really well.  There's also a men's urinal.  If you need to change outside, huge floor to ceiling curtains can be closed around you for privacy.  There are two of these, one for the men and one for the women.  What's more CCTVs face out from the men's and women's changing area so that anyone heading towards them can be monitored.  I could see a lot of planning went into taking care of members well being.

When I worked out late at night I could see the security personnel for the entire Arena Sukan area patrolling.  This was a welcome sight.  My only worry was always that a member would bring a friend in.  I guess this can easily be rectified if members wore their electronic key wrist bands at night.  So members know that the others are members too.  In fact all I want to do is workout and train and not have to worry if the person next to me or behind me is a member or not.  I am sure I can take good care of myself, but others might not be so lucky.  This may seem like a small matter, but when it comes to women it will become a huge matter.  Another thing I notice is that after midnight the main gates outside are closed by the guards.  This is an extremely good thing.  When I came out of the gym there can clearly see me as the entrance is in sight of the guard house.  So when I drove off they opened the gate for me.

Space to do your thing

Very motivating sign

I want muscles!

Always friendly and helpful staff

Upstairs rest area

Two machines to keep me cool

Bicycles that go nowhere

Rowing your boat?

Elliptical cross-trainers

The scariest machine at the gym for me!

For me to run like a gerbil

M is for Men

W is for Women

Panic button

Do they Transform?

Machines that make me want to confess to anything

Machines I don't even know how to use

Will it make me taller?

She knows I am ready

Conclusion

When there is free flow of hot or cold water how can anyone complain?  I like the rest area upstairs very much. If I needed to check on work I could easily do it there.  Of course there are a few things that would be much appreciated at the gym.  But then again this is a low-cost gym so I it is supposed to come with no frills.  I know I will be heavy with all that berbuka puasa goodies, so the sight of a recently put weighing scale was much appreciated.  With CCTVs everywhere it's hard for anyone to take anything, let alone bring a friend in.  For that a penalty of RM50 will be imposed on the gym member.   I realize my upper body strength is limited.  So a chin-up bar would be much appreciated too.  Also maybe monkey bars or those jungle gym ropes that go up high so that I can improve my climbing skills for obstacle races in the future.  I know a certain Kenny Sia must be grinning and shaking his head when he reads this.  Yours truly does ask too much for RM10 extra.

So now I have no worries if I need to train during Ramadan at all.  What more even after that I plan to go to LUF24HR again.  The thing is I like the power to choose when I want to go to the gym.  There have been many a time I wanted to run early in the morning and it was raining or the sky was heavy with rain clouds.  Now I have another option.  This gym has opened up lots of possibilities for me.  Though I must admit running long on the treadmill is the most boring thing ever.  However it is really safe when I stop to consider what's out there.  Trust me I have been chased by dogs, nearly hit by bikes (head on again!) and eyed by motorcyclists in a most disturbing way.  When we run alone on the road in the wee hours there are so many dangers out there.  I am a big guy and I know I can run myself out of danger if I have to, but still, there is always the feeling that someone might find my water bottles attractive...

LUF24HR might not work for everyone.  Those who need to company of others will find it a very lonely place after 10pm.  I have been there till well past midnight. Maybe because I like training alone so it mattered naught to me.  The music still blares loudly.  The air-cons keep me cool and two windmill like fans spin slowly to circulate the cool air.  So anyone wanting the freedom of going to the gym whenever they want too, do give LUF24HR a chance.  You will be surprised at how easy it is to workout when you don't have to worry about the time.  The fat old man running on the treadmill well past midnight is real.  Do say hello.  He is a really friendly and sociable chap.  You don't have to be a runner to be his friend, though most of the time running is the only thing he talks about.  At the end of the day it's all about working out, and being a member of not one but two gyms, has a lot of advantages for me now.  Thank you Level Up Fitness for continuing to blaze the trail for gyms in Kuching.

Power of Love Charity Run

5km and 10km runs

Date: 20th October 2013
Time: 6.30am
Venue: Crown Square Kuching
Registration fees: RM35 (inclusive of free t-shirt)
Contact: 016-9852098 (Mr Ho) or 013-8189896 (Mr Bun)
Closing date: 6th October 2013
Details: here
Form: here
 

Charity Walk for Hearts

 

Walking for a good cause

Organized by UCSI University

Benefits Sarawak Cheshire Home

Nothing much was supposed to happen during the month of Ramadan.  Yours truly ran at night, mostly doing my gerbil imitation.  The night before the Charity Walk for Hearts I was at LUF24HR till the wee hours.  My marathon training never stops even during the fasting month.  If not I will surely put on weight.  Last year it was like 5kg of goodness around my waist.  The rest of me is fine.  There's this invisible magnet around my waist that just attracts fat cells.  So when I heard about this Charity Walk for Hearts organized by the UCSI University Sarawak Campus I knew I had to join especially since it benefited the Sarawak Cheshire Home.  As a boy I lived nearby and would often go there to help out because I was a member of the Red Crescent.  It was nice to see many people wearing the light green, orange and yellow t-shirts that we were given for signing up.  Just another t-shirt to add to my ever growing collection, but this is just the sort of thing that is not surprisingly very close to my heart.

Associate Professor Dr. Li Jianyao

Associate Professor Dr Li Jianyao, Dean of Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, UCSI University Sarawak Campus, addressed the crowd.  This event was organized by the students of Diploma in Hotel Management.  They spent two months to plan for this event.  They are proud and happy that they have helped successfully raised RM4,000 for the Cheshire Home.  Mr Anthony Jong, Assistant Honourary Treasure, Sarawak Cheshire Home, was on hand to receive the mock cheque.   Also on hand was Mr Harvard Wong, Project Manager of Charity Walk for Hearts. 

L-R: Ashley, Dr. Li, Harvard  and Anthony

 Let the walk begin...

 

Participants ready to go

The signage made me smile

So we didn't lose our way

Following the crowd

Even the cat waved us on

Not part of the walk but me likes!

To the finish we go...

 

Me, Anthony Lau and Reuben Su

Nasa Zaidul looking very happy indeed

The only four-legged participant

Berbuka Puasa goodies

Lucky draw hamper time!

UCSI group photo

Reuben with Andrea Ong, the emcee

A jolly good time!

I truly enjoyed myself. From the moment I contacted the tireless Aron to register for the walk I knew this was going to be a wonderful event.  Aron went to the gym to to help me register one evening.  Later he would drop off the t-shirts at another gym in the evening.  Now that is what I call truly hands-on service.  This augurs well for the whole USCI University as well if there are ambassadors such as these.  Then there was Andrea who was so helpful with her notes.  It's the little things that always make me happy.  Like the fact that the kind lady helped me with my berbuka puasa goodies.  I was surprised at the amount of food I had gotten, and that was something to look forward to in the evening.  There was no shortage of refreshments and snacks for those who participated.  Everyone was really friendly.  The Reservoir Park venue was the perfect choice too.  Even though we started walking a bit late, we didn't feel the heat, as we talked up a storm all the way to the finish line.

I was later informed that it wasn't actually a 5km walk. The route had been shortened! Hence the readouts of 3.8km and 4.3km on different GPS tracking devices.  In fact they shortened it because several OKUs were supposed to have joined in the walk to.  Unfortunately they didn't turn up.  That's the sort of thing that makes my heart smile.  Thus the charity walk was aptly named.  Yes this was a charity event, but it was also a walkathon awareness programme.  The fact that so many youngsters participated was a tremendous sign.  This was definitely a job well done and everyone who had a part in organising the Charity Walk for Hearts should give themselves a mighty big pat on the back.  The residents of the Sarawak Cheshire  Home might not know you but I am positive they are ever so grateful for what you have done.  Keep up the good work guys!

The Reservoir Park

Addendum

In my excitement to write about the Charity Walk for Hearts I forgot to tell people from outside Kuching more about the Sarawak Cheshire Home.  It was officially declared open in November 1969.  However it's formation went back as far as 1966.  A group of people who had heard about the works of the Cheshire Homes, founded by Group Captain Leonard Cheshire began to make plans to establish a home in Kuching  to serve the incurably sick and handicapped for whom there was no special places.  By May 1966, Group Captain Cheshire himself visited Kuching to see into the possibility of establishing a Home here.  The Sarawak Social Welfare Council gave momentum to the fund raising drive with a generous grant.  This grant has been continued annually by the Ministry of Welfare.  The hard work and many contributions of interested individuals from all over the State has since made the construction and running of the Sarawak Cheshire Home possible.

Kuching Marathon Association

 

Kuching Marathon

KMA set to organize a Full Marathon in 2014

The long wait will finally be over

Yours truly was invited to a press conference by the Kuching Marathon Association today.  Suffice to say I was very excited at finding out the latest news on the possibility of an even longer run in Kuching.  The President of KMA, Mr Wong Chen Yi, announced that they are set to organize in the second half of 2014 a full marathon, the first for such an event in recent years.  It was unanimously decided in the Executive Committee Meeting of KMA held earlier this morning that the full marathon event by the name of "Kuching Marathon 2014" will also offer 21km, 10km and 5km categories.  In preparation for the this full marathon, Mr Philip Chua, KMA's Vice President has been appointed as Event Director of Kuching Marathon 2014 to head the organizing committee which will be set-up next month.  Mr Liew Tang Chieh, KMA's Secretary is the Deputy Event Director.  KMA will make an announcement to the general public regarding the details of the event including registration of the run and other administrative details soon.

More about KMA

Kuching Marathon Association (KMA) was approved by the Sports Commissioner of Sarawak under the Sports Development Act 1997 recently.  To date, this is the only sport body for running and marathon at divisional level established in Sarawak.  The main objectives of KMA, among others, are to act as the representative sport body of running and marathon at the divisional level of Kuching, to create awareness of the importance of rules and laws on the sport of marathon and running, to organize or assist in the organizing and hosting for such competitive sports, and to promote the development of the sport at the grassroots level through the establishment and acceptance of sport clubs as affiliate member.  KMA also hopes to act as a consultative body on all matters relating to sport and activities of running and marathon in the division of Kuching.

Mr Wong said that the setting up of this association is timely in view of the growing population of runners in Kuching as evident by the various running events held recently.  KMA will thus provide a platform to gather and pool the strength and resources of everyone towards building up a society of healthier life quality through running activities which is one of the simplest and convenient ways to exercise.  He further commented that the Executive Committee of KMA which consists of a pool of talents and volunteers from various sectors are very much well prepared and committed to contribute to the development of the sport of running and marathon for the community of Kuching City and its vicinity.

L-R: Philip Chua, Wong Chen YI, Jackie Chong and Liew Tang Chieh

My thoughts

It's about time! After the massive success of Spring Live Active Run 2013, I was so hoping for someone to come up with an even more challenging run.  42.195 km is the ultimate dream of the long distance runner.  Yours truly has already experienced it, and will continue to experience it, as I have signed up for several more FMs.  The fact that the joy of full marathon running will be coming to my hometown of Kuching makes running an FM here even more special.  I am sure many of my running buddies feel the same way to and will be counting the months, weeks and days before the big event happens.  What I do hope though is that this will be above all a fun running experience for everyone.  What better way to introduce the joys of running to our people then to showcase that runners actually are friendly and happy people.

Thank you KMA for finally making the move that will put Kuching on the running map in Malaysia.  We all know the Kenyans will be coming.  What would make it even more special is that our neighbours would come too.  Runners from Southeast Asia will now have another FM to put on their running calendar.  There will also be many more Sarawakian-born full marathoners.  Hopefully this will spur our local runners to even greater heights.  I can tell you now I am so looking forward to KMA's next press conference and also the launch of their official website.  Who would have thought last year when I started out on my running journey that there would be such a snowball effect in running in Kuching.  Am so glad I could bring this piece of good news to my fellow runners faster than the press.  So for future updates on what KMA are doing do check my blog from time to time.

L-R: Wong, TC Liew and Chua after the Spring Live Active Run

 

Newsflash!

The Kuching Marathon 2014 website is online!  Yes it does say coming soon, but hey, now we know it is coming! So sometime in the later half of 2014 there will be, fingers crossed, a full marathon in Kuching.  For those who want to follow up to date news do please visit Kuching Marathon's official FB page at www.facebook.com/KuchingMarathonAssociation. That's all from me for now folks. Happy running always!

 

Yoga Poses for Runners

Alvin Heng in action during the Yogathon

After the Yogathon

Basic Yoga Stretching

How do we begin?

Truth be told we shouldn't have a Yogathon to remind us how useful stretching is in everyday life.  For the runner it is imperative that there is stretching involved before and after a run.  It is not enough to walk slow and then start to run on the road or on the treadmill.  Before we begin to even walk we must stretch to warm our muscles up.  Yours truly has seen many a would-be runner on the treadmill go from zero to 10kph without any sort of warm-up at all.  That is the joy of being young and having legs that can go at the drop of a running cap.  However what it does is open up a host of chances for getting injured.  If running is truly your joy you definitely do not want to be on the sidelines too long watching your friends racing each other.  Also once our legs start getting injured there is a big chance of them getting injured again.

I am not saying that yoga is the only way to stretch.  There are various stretching methods commonly in use.  These have be honed throughout the years explicitly for the athlete.  Yoga is more of a lifestyle workout of body and mind.  It emphasizes many things, and is just not about the poses.  Breathing plays a very important part too.  By nature I am a very tense person.  Yoga helps me relax even if I have trouble touching my toes.  That blame lies in my belly that keeps that joy from happening just yet.  Whenever I do yoga I employ blocks to help me keep in contact with the ground.  Trust me if I didn't, the one making the loudest noise in yoga class will be me, and it won't be of the "oops!" variety.  Knowing what I know now, how I wish I had started yoga earlier in life.  What I do try to do nowadays is catch a yoga class whenever it doesn't conflict with my training schedule.  Sadly this doesn't happen a lot.

To begin the yoga stretches for runners it is best to do a basic warm-up.  This is where those Sun Salutations from the Yogathon come in.  If you refer to that post of mine you will see my friend Alvin Heng doing the complete Sun Salutation "A" for the camera.  It is broken down into 12 moves so that everyone can easily follow it.  Suffice to say these are basic yoga moves, but for the beginner it is a good way to start.  Then maybe later they can get into Sun Salutation "B" which is a bit tougher.  Now that the muscles are warm and the blood is flowing we are ready for some runner-friendly yoga poses!

The Five Yoga Poses

1. Pigeon Pose. 

What this pose does is stretches the thighs, groins, abdomen, chest, shoulders and neck. It's a great yoga pose to open the hips and improve flexibility. 

Yikru Ng, my yoga instructor, executing the Pigeon Pose

The Extended Pigeon Pose

For those who are flexible enough, they can walk their hands slowly into the Extended Pigeon Pose, which offers an even better stretch.  Please note that you need to keep your hips as square as possible.  If you hips a tendency to one side use a yoga block or a towel to cushion and align the hips.  It is best to hold this pose for two minutes.

2. Downward Facing Dog.

What this pose does is it helps with tight leg muscles, especially in the calves, while also strengthening the arms. Downward facing dog is also therapeutic for flat feet.

The Downward Facing Dog

It is important to spread your fingers wide to distribute the weight.  Yikru calls them gecko hands.  Your feet must be slightly pointed inwards. Also keep them hip width apart.  Try your best to keep the whole of your heels down to the floor.

3. Extended Triangle Pose. 

What the Triangle pose does is it stretches the sides of the body and hamstrings and helps improve digestion and relieve back pain.

Extended Triangle Pose

Use your index and middle finger to grab hold of your big toe and step on it to use that as resistance when your stretch into the pose.  Spread your hands and lift up so your energy should be going upwards and try to get your shoulders stacked over each other so your chest is open to the side.

4. Forward Fold.

What the Forward Fold does is it helps stretch out the hamstrings, calves and hips, improves digestion, reduces fatigue and is said to be beneficial for those with asthma.

Forward Fold

 For those who cannot touch the ground yoga blocks can be used.

5. Chair Pose.  

The chair pose is a bit difficult. It helps build the core, glutes, legs and arms and strengthens the ankles and spine.

Chair Pose

To hold the Chair Pose make sure your feet are flat on the ground.  Your hips must be lowered as low as you can.  Try to round your tailbone to the floor.  Which is to say your butt does stick out.  Palms must be together, shoulders relaxed and reach upwards.  The thighs must also be squeezed together.

After the run

Recovery

Let's be honest, running can take a toll on our body. Whether we're training for our fifth marathon or just starting with the sport, recovery is imperative in order to improve our running performance.  Running focuses on specific muscle groups and in order to restore balance, cross training, like I mentioned in my RPM post, is important. How do we recover after a very long run? We can soak our feet in ice.  We can wear compression socks that have been specially made for recovery.  We can take a whole host of foods.  I like taking Vitamin C and ingesting protein shakes.  It all depends on what works for you best.  It is one of those trial and error things.  Yoga also can be used as part of that recovery process.  The moves shown above look simple enough but does need proper training to be done right.  If you want to do them it is best to contact a qualified yoga instructor to get them done correctly.

Many thanks to Yikru Ng, my yoga instructor at Level Up Fitness gym,  for taking timeout to pose for this moves for me.  Hopefully in the future we can come up with even more yoga moves that may help runners to recover and run better and faster and avoid injuries.  It's been a blast learning new things through yoga about my bodies' capabilities.  All I need now is to find a way to get rid of that pesky tummy of mine that gets in the way of many a yoga move.  The loud thump heard in class is usually me.  Please don't laugh if you hear me say, "I'm stuck!" Namaste!  

RPM

A typical RPM workout session

 

Raw Power in Motion (RPM)

Cycling up a storm on an indoor stationary bicycle

What is it all about?

RPM is the indoor cycling workout where you ride to the rhythm of powerful music. Take on the terrain with your inspiring instructor who leads the pack through hills, flats, mountain peaks, time trials, and interval training.  That's how we discover our athlete within - sweat and burn to reach our endorphin high. To keep things exciting a new RPM class is released every three months with new music and choreography.  All the instructors at Level Up Fitness gym where I train are qualified instructors from the Les Mills program.  Before I discovered the joys of running I used to cycle a lot when I studied in San Francisco.  The hills there can be really challenging.  When I got back to Kuching I hardly cycled anymore.  The RPM classes were kind of nostalgic for me, especially the hill climbs, where we had to stand up and cycle away in higher gears to simulate the inclines.  However when running came along I kind of pushed RPM to the sidelines.

A typical RPM class burned the desired amount of calories for someone like me.  Of course nowadays if I run at a faster pace I can burn lots more.  However the great thing about RPM is that I reduce the pounding action on my legs.  Plus different leg muscles come into play.  Believe it or not I find this sort of cross-training helps me run faster!  So for anyone tired of the endless runs to nowhere on the treadmill, they can shift to the endless pedaling to nowhere.  Trust me with the catchy music that we are encouraged to sing along too, it will breathe new life into any training programme.  The worst thing that can happen is that we get bored of doing the same old thing over and over again.  Hence I emphasis the need for road runs.  Acting like a gerbil all the time has its benefits for someone like me who has trouble pacing himself.  However putting in road and even track runs is a must.  Tempo runs and sprint work of the Yasso 800 variety has its merits, but also have a host of critics.

How I got back into the fold

Yours truly had frozen his membership because of too many runs.  When they announced the Push the Tempo challenge for RPM in May I was still imitating a Popsicle.  As luck would have it another prize would be awarded to anyone who managed to accumulate the highest points from the 16th May onwards.  Of course it had to be a cycling jersey.  Am a self-confessed sucker for running tops, finisher t-shirts and any kind of jerseys.  Since I missed out on two classes I knew I had to attend every single RPM class for the next two weeks to stand a chance of winning the jersey.  Sometimes that meant as many as two RPM classes in a day! Sometimes getting to the gym on time can itself be a challenge.  However I used the same determination from my runs to get the job done.  Suffice to say from Day One it worked like a charm.

RPM instructor Orly Zapatos and me on Day One

Thanks to RPM instructors Orly Zapatos, Corina Yong, Mary Anne E. Hendroff, Ryan Tay and Kenny Sia, for keeping me motivated throughout those two weeks.  I even managed to squeeze in a bit of treadmill work in between, but the most was half an hour. As the days went on I was burning more and more calories.  That was a sure fire way to bring my weight down.  When I stopped doing the classes and concentrated on my runs leading into Spring Live Active Run I surprisingly felt refreshed.  On the Thursday before the run I weighed in at 91kg!  That's the lightest I have ever been for such a long time.  Of course I would gain it back again after my back to back adventures on the road and in the mountains, but that's unfortunately how I operate.  All I can say is that the feeling to be light again is simply awesome.  I want  more of that and I know I have to work hard at keeping the fat away.

What I got for my efforts

Yes I admit for starters I was in it to win the jersey.  But as things went on my joy for cycling returned.  I do own a mountain bike.  It's covered in dust and both tyres are deflated.  There will come a time when I must give it a go again.  Just for fun though.  No duathlons or cycling events for me.  Am only concentrating on one thing: running.  If I wanted to be a triathlete I would sprout fins.  That's the only way for me to swim 4.8km in the ocean.  I am trying to imagine swimming lap after lap in a puny swimming pool to achieve that.  Then again aren't I doing nearly the same thing with my treadmill runs?  A dear friend of mine says treadmill running is so boring for her.  I understand why.  Yet I must look at the big picture.  It's more practical for me then running on weekdays with cars around me and all that exhaust smoke.  At night it gets too dangerous.  I could get hit, and nearly have a couple of times by bikes, even though am running against the flow of traffic.

Lets not lose track on what this is all about: RPM. I made many new friends in the process.  There was Kevin Hirst who when I was there didn't miss any RPM class.  Then there was Venessa Signal who was nearly always there.  From the get-go everyone knew Kevin was the man to beat.  He had worn out cycling shorts in the process! I didn't wear any.  Mine was hanging on a hook behind my bedroom closet door! Don't think it does much for me.  Guess am immune to that saddle now.  I clearly remember when RPM was first introduced when one of the members said a most private part of hers was on fire.  She didn't seem to care if everyone heard her words.  So I guess it must have been that bad!  The body adapts to all sorts of punishment thrown at it.  Over time I got used to that saddle.  In my younger days I did always use bike shorts though.

Vanessa Signal and Kevin Hirst

As expected Kevin took top honours. Vanessa finished second.  Both got an additional hamper for being the top male and female winners.  Carol Lim finished third.  And yes yours truly did get his cycling jersey for being the top performer in the second half of May. And yes I was the first one to wear mine on RPM Relaunch Day. What's more I got me a tiny hamper too!

Me winning my prize!

Carol coming in third

Vanessa with all her prizes!

Kevin with all his winnings!

The four cycling jersey winners...

That's what we all won amid the other goodies

Kevin won an extra t-shirt from the sponsors!

RPM Relaunch

Unleashing the superhero in all of us

The Joker, Invisible Girl and Spidey

Every three months or so the Les Mills program gets a Relaunch.  Lucky for us we had a double or should I say triple treat during the RPM Relaunch.  Apart from getting our Push the Tempo prizes, we also quickly learned the latest edition to the RPM class.  On top of that the theme was Superheroes! As expected our instructors came dressed as superheroes and even a super-villain.  The class was led by Mary Anne (Invisible Girl - luckily we still managed to see her!) and Ryan (Peter Parker forgot his mask!).  Then along came The Joker (Kenny) to aim his gun at all of us.  How I wished it squirted out Gatorade! Those classes are always fun and everyone wants to attend them.  Nothing beats the energy from RPMing in a class full of like-minded people working out.  I think I must have burned even extra calories!

Me trying to steal some of their super powers!

All those who participated in the Relaunch

What it did for me...

Two weeks of RPMing. Not missing a single RPM class. Then back to two weeks of treadmill action and road runs.  What did I achieve from all this? Only knocked nearly half an hour off my 21km PB at Spring Live Active Run! That's why I am sharing this with all of you. It could be my body needed a change. It could be because different legs muscles came into play.  It could be because I rested my feet. It could be because of a host of other things I don't even know about.  What am sure about though is this type of cross-training helped me a lot on race day.  Maybe you too can find something that works for you to help improve your runs.  We all after all do nearly the same thing.  Some of us like to climb. I do that at least once a month.  Others like to swim or do yoga.  Get different muscle groups into play.  That I think is the key.  Your muscles will thank you for it.