Place to escape...

I needed a way of venting out my frustration and sometimes anger. Rather than bitching and gossiping to people, I found going to the gym and most recently jogging in the park has helped. I’ve always liked sport but never been a true athlete. At school I preferred team sports like the school hockey team, badminton and netball team. I hated cross country running since we always had to run through muddy terrain and often icy and cold conditions (typical Scottish weather)

Post university life, however, I wasn’t active in any major team sports. As a result, my weight tended to fluctuate up and down which is not good. I went to the occasional gym sessions but was not consistent when I went back to Malaysia for a year. I wanted to go to kickboxing classes at Bangsar but travelling to and fro Sg Buloh and working late in Malaysia didn’t allow me to attend the classes on a regular basis.

I know I will never be able to become skinny even with hours and hours of exercising since I love my food too much. However, it doesn't stop me from staying healthy though..

When I started working in the UK, I got back into the gym classes attending body combat classes. The main reason I liked going to the classes was the music- it’s often upbeat and you can put all the negative thoughts into positive energy through the music. After a few years of doing the classes, I started getting bored though because I often felt were just punching in air so unable to get the maximum impact from the blows.

I’m not a naturally aggressive person but when I’m focused on doing something I want to get the maximum impact in whatever I’m doing so when I’m doing punches and kicks at body combat I felt I was never getting the maximum impact I would have liked.

This year, I decided to be a bit more adventurous so I attended fight club classes which is similar to boxercise where you go through a routine with a punch bag which you share with a buddy or on your own. It’s more fun sharing a punch bag with a buddy because you get to fight against the force of your opponent rather than merely punching a bag. Although music selection is better in body combat, I felt that I can vent out a lot of my frustrations after a long day via the punchbag….and it’s a great workout.

Another way which I’ve found quite good to de-stress is body pump sessions which is not a session you would necessarily sweat but it is good for toning and strengthening your muscles using various weights and cardio exercises. It is another session following rhythm of the music and although you don’t sweat in the session, you are more likely to feel the aches and pains of places where you would never think you would feel pain but it is definitely worth it.
I’m currently waiting for my replacement City of Westminster Resident card which I use to get discounts in the gym so once I get that back I look forward to get back into the classes.

Since summer is here, I decided to go jogging and as a goal I’m aiming to run 5km for charity. This may seem a short distance to some people but considering I’ve never properly jogged for more than 5 minutes on a treadmill I thought this may be a challenge. The first time I tried jogging at Hyde Park, I ran out of breath after 200m ..and I thought how the hell will I be able to run for 5km!

But at least I had a target where I wanted to be and one month on , I’m jogging every two days and running about 5km which I didn’t think I would ever been able to do…
Jogging with my music along Hyde Park and watching the parklife going by helps me to gather my thoughts. Even before I jogged, if I ever needed a place to retreat I would often sit by Serpentine Lake and watch the day go by…

So, maybe this jogging thing is a way for me to escape the things that are going on in my life at the moment…rather than have these negative thoughts I might as well turn this energy into a positive one….