The long road to recovery

2 weeks down, another 6 weeks to go. adehh. gained about 3kgs. i'm now 72kg compared to only just 69kgs a couple weeks ago. 65kg target ntah bile tah nk sampai. in these first two weeks, my only cardio was swimming - which i went only for a couple of times, and two days of walking around shopping malls. haha. been doing a lot of knee strengthening exercises and lowered my workout intensity so as to not develop too much muscle mass. perut pulak macam dah naik sikit. adehhh. 50 sit ups every two days tak cukup ni. nak kena increase. i really need to break some sweats. starting tonight, i'm gonna try a different type of cardio exercise - with the arms and body. kinda like aerobics but only on upper body. cant put too much stress on the legs yet. bottom line is, i'm still fat and now that my mobility is kinda limited, i'm not sure how low my fitness level is at now. darn. am eating more than what i'm burning too. mama nye cooking la ni. sedap sangat. i cant complain tho, but its still a factor. haha.

i wore sneakers to work now that i need more cushioning. i've also been reading a lot about knee injuries, exercises, recovery, etc, and i came across 'flat feet'. i'm not sure if i'm flat footed but i'm gonna go get a foot specialist's opinion. the self test dun convince me enuff. this cud also be a factor to the knee injuries and maybe i need some orthotics or corrections to my running and walking. i'm pretty sure i wasnt flat footed before. i remember getting advices from my coaches everytime i wanna buy shoes or i'd get them to buy for me. but that was such a long time ago. somewhere between then and now, i got fat. now that i'm thin again - well, marginally thin - the after effect from thin to fat to thin again cud probably have fuktup my bone structure along the way. i think i really need to have some professional inputs now that i'm getting my training back together. now that its still at an early stage. for peace of mind, at least.

sadly, i'm also slowly developing to be a couch potato. haha. now that i've got time i've been catching up on the movies that i've downloaded but have not watched yet. watched some bruce lee movies, some funny stuffs, and a few human nature stuffs if u get wat i mean. most recent movie that i download and watched was Ip Man. superb wing chun kungfu fight scenes. but weak story line tho. the kungfu was so cool that i watched it twice. he he. was told there were a few scenes that was cut out from the public screening. lucky me i always download. he he.

aaarrggghhh.. its only been 2 weeks rest and i'm already feeling like crap, physically. cant wait till i'm well again. been itching to run and cycle. knee injury is no joke. i hate it. kena once before when i was in school. dislocated my knee. stayed off sports and heavy activities for 5 whole months. imagine that, being a schoolboy. home bound. with hormones raging. ha ha. hopefully, this time it wont be that long and i cud ride and run sooner than i'm supposed to rest. ha ha. its frustrating that i've got my weight down, and got fit, only to be bogged down with injury putting those hard work to a halt. i'll surely be back fitter, stronger and faster. cewah, mcm gempak je. he he.

ironically, its during these times that i get to do stuffs that have been kept on hold or needs more of my attention before but cudnt have time for it. this time round, i have wedding misc stuffs to look into. wedding preparations are under way and i'm currently compiling my friends-to-invite list. apart from those that i'm close to, i dunno who else should i invite. some are 'friends', some are just 'accomplices', and some are 'friends of friends'. office mates are easy. oh, and its a gud thing too there's Facebook. yay! its not that i dun want to invite them all, its just that my wedding guests are limited to 1000 pax and almost a third of it are families and neighbours. the wedding will be at 'a hall' (location rahsia for now), and it'll be a formal dinner with dress codes. do take note. it'll be in june and you guys still got time to save up for wedding gifts. ha ha.

cudnt sleep well last nite. had my knee tightly compressed with bandage, and elevate it on some pillows. sakit badan wo bila bangun tido pagi tadi. macam tk puas je tido. balik keje ni kang mcm nk tido lagi je rasa. huhu.

until the knuckling sensation above my right knee goes away, it'll be like this almost every night. adehhh lagi. next check up will be in february. aiiihhhh..

Knee Pops

ok 3 days gone by and i dun see any signs of recovery or healing. there's no pain, but the knee still feels loose and i cant really stand and support myself for too long without feeling some uneasiness 'in' the knee. it still pops at a certain angle of motion. when i'm sitting down and try to lift my foot, i can feel the bone or muscle move and pops when i put my palm on my thighs above knee. on new years eve, i made my way to the GP to have my knee checked. after going thru some knee movement process and some touching and pressing during the check up, the doc said its a strain muscle, specifically, the quadriceps tendon. its not completely torn but its a tear nonetheless. what a way to start the new year. there're several factors that could lead to this and one of it is consistent stress on a particular muscle which lead to its rupture. looking back on the past couple weeks, i did cycle and ran a lot, but i think its the futsal that contributes most to the damage. its overstress to the knee. the knuckling pops is due to uneven muscle strengths on certain area of the knee which makes it out of alignment. bleeagghhh. the doc also said my cartilage is thinning and i have to live with the pops and knuckling sound for the rest of my life as long as its still there and its not worth to go for a repair or surgery, which, isnt really convincing but coming from a normal GP, i'll take it. for now. i guess after all the working out and exercise last year, i needed and deserved a break after all. so i'll be off from the running and the bike for 6-8 weeks until my knee's all better again. but if it doesnt get better, i'm seeing a specialist or an orthopaedic.
ironically, as i was at the counter collecting my meds, my dad called and ask me my whereabouts. so i told him i'm at a clinic going for a checkup for my knee which he laughed and mock at. basket. ha ha. was given some pain killers and some cream to apply to the knee. and i have to wear a compression knee support brace too.
read up on some knee strengthening exercises on the web. in these next 6-8 weeks i'll be busy nursing and strengthening the knee back to full recovery which i hope it would. apparently, these workout are the ones that i left out in my routines - various kinds of knee lifts, leg lifts, and balancing focus exercise. dang!~
had to come back after 3 days to check on progress, so i went again 3 days later. doc said the swell had subside. i didnt even know it's swollen. doesnt seem like it. when i looked at it. was given more meds and cream.
it'll be a long way to recovery. the sooner the better. i hate it when i'm down with injury. i cant do stuffs and it affects me in many ways. nothing i can do really. its self inflicted. ha ha. once it stopped popping, i'll get back on the bike first before i do any running. until that day comes, i'll live with the strengthening exercises for now. so here's hoping for a speedy recovery. hoohaaa!~

Gudbye 2008. Hello 2009 !~

hoohaaaaa !~ 2008 has been a gud year for me. learnt a lot. made some life changing decisions. ventured onto new paths. tried new things. made new frens and foes. another year went past. am i still the same old me i wonder. here are some events that are worth mentioning that i can remember tho might not be choronologically correct.

began the year like i always do - with a haircut. hehe. feeling refreshed and determined to do well in the year which i think i didnt do too bad at all. got engaged somewhere in february to my lovely gal. one big step for us both. she's from batu pahat. the preparation for this engagement was kinda big as everyone from my family wants to chip in a bit. no complaints here. he he.

then in march, macam biasa la, F1 !! woohooo !!.. i lurve going to SIC to watch the F1. its hot. its humid. but its all worth it. the noise. the crowd. the atmosphere. i always enjoyed my F1 trip to SIC. went with my brother again this year and with a cousin of mine. pity that i cudnt get tix for him so he had to wait outside. ferrari shirt; check. ferrari flag; check. ferrari cap; check. sunblock; check. ear plugs; no ear plugs. cotton wool will do just fine. another grandstand tix this year but this time, its at the last corner. the triangle section of the stand where the two long straight conjoines. i get to run around that area and enjoy the race at both sides of the long straights. its also the loudest area where the cars braked down booming with each downshifts as they enter the turn, and accelerate at full throttle upon exit. dayuumm! tied the flag ends at my arms and i looked like superman. ha ha. the three of us really enjoyed ourselves. oh, and on that day too, another cousin of mine got engaged. congrats again to him too.

then april came. its my birthday month. like my previous birthdays, i celebrate my birthday alone. tho everytime i remind everyone early, i'd still somehow wud find myself all alone on my birthday. happy birthday to me. but i'd still get lots of wishes from families and frens. at least ppl do still wish me. he he. i think i went on an estate run in april too with the classic fiat and MSVCR members at sedenak. the whole family went and it was a gud outing. sliding the car out on the gravel in each turn. fooohhhh.. gaya~

come may, i sent my trusty ol breadvan for a fresh new coat of paint. gave it a new color. Bianco Perla is the new exterior theme. it went from fiery red to spermy white. from the devil, to the silent angel. dangerous silent killer. its white, its cool as cucumber, it looks innocent, it looks weak. but everytime it slipstreams behind some puny ass or gave the run from other losers, its down right menacing. i didnt say this, somebody else did. ha ha. how wud i know how the bella wud look coz i'm in it driving. there were also negative remarks about the new car color saying it doesnt look right in white, or its too girlish. then again, its my car. at the end of the day, the white grows on them who diss it in the first place. boo yaa!

since the end of 2007, i've been working hard on getting my weight down and working out on the muscle and fitness level. amazingly, i managed to reach beyond my intended target weight and my fitness level is aint half bad either. entered a charity run sometime in june to test out my running and check out wat kind of fruits does my hard labour bear. ha ha. all those running on the 'mill, all those working out, all those swimming, all those resisting temptation of gud food, all those staying off cold drinks, it showed its significance in the run. managed to complete the 12km run in 1hr 50 mins. not bad i shud say. received a certificate upon crossing the finish line. ha ha. then there's also a fun treasure hunt event which some colleagues from work and i joined which we survived. ha ha.

all those running and swimming gets boring after a while so i tinkered with the idea of cycling. talked to some frens, and after some scouting around i got myself a bicycle. not those cheapo steel bike but a roadie. a decent entry level alloy one for training and fitness. cycled on my own for a while until i was intro'd to this group of cyclist who cycle every week at impian emas and do long rides on weekends. i was hooked. got myself some new gears and trained hard to keep up with the big boys with my puny bike. learnt a lot from the guys there. made new frens. learnt new stuff. went for excursions and long rides with them. had loads of fun. cycled everywhere. improved a lot on my stamina and fitness. for months i cud eat anything and still maintain my rather 'slim' cut. ha ha. unfotunately, the perut is still there. dem!~ but, i cud run further, faster, and swim harder. its all gud. but somehow along the way, i kinda overtrained and i'm nursing an injury as i type this.

other aspects in life have been and still is progressing well. i guess. apart from the new hobby, i've actually been spending a lot less. am saving up for the big day which is in about 6 months, and of course, preparing for the so called 'worse economic downturn'. am not on the market as much as i used to. being very anal about my spendings altho, it kinda look like i'm channeling it to my cycling at one point. ha ha. oh well. work has been good. nothing to shout about, really. i'm considering other options at the moment but by the looks of how things are shaping up, i'm not putting my hopes too high. lemme just take it slow for the moment and complete my pending studies. another 3 more papers to go and i'm done.

i've already started shopping and scouting for stuffs for my wedding. it might seem that there's still time, but believe me, time is one thing i dun really have. 6 months aint that far ahead.

i'd also like to say my thank you and appreciations to the friends and families who have put up with me and my anal behaviour. i know i could be difficult sometimes or all the time. i know that i could be such a pain in the ass with my idiosyncrasies or my dullness. i know i cud be such a pain in the ass, so, thank you. i'll always try to be there for you guys the way you've always been around for me.

for all the wrong things i did,.. naahhh. i dun need to apologize. wtf for? wats done is done. cant be undone. so no point apologizing. boo yaa!

then again, looking back, i realised that i've not been such an ass as i should be. altho i know i'm difficult to deal with. dang! i've soften up a bit and thats not good by my standards. i think i'm too preoccupied with stuffs and also most things went my way so i dun really care. gotta improve on this and be a bigger ass in 2009. this will be my new year's resolution, along with some other resolutions. goodbye 2008,..

...hello 2009. i'm gonna be such a pain to all of you. oh i'll be nice to you of course. as long as you know i treat you rite, then u're safe. if i dun like you, i'll let you know in your face. i'm also gonna keep on working out, running, cycling and getting fit. i'm still way off from my targeted weight - 65kg. living healthily is important. to me. i will be making one majordomo big step in my life next year which is getting hitched and i'll be crossing over to the land where the wimmen rules and the men pretends they have control.

there'll be some straightening of major strings that i have to work on - financially, personally, mentally, and of course religiously. insya allah. so here's to a great 2009 ahead, for me and you guys better run ! coz i'm coming after ya!