Running with Brooks

Facial Pain

IT'S been a long, tiring month. Getting back to work with an unbearable sinusitis facial pains that had intensified over the weeks had kept me away from here. But thanks to the new doctor I'm seeing, the past few days have been better. Well, apart from being an eye candy (he gets me nervous with his Mona Lisa smile), he is one who listens before prescribing meds that go with my needs and lifestyle. Not the usual horrible anti-histamines, antibiotics and nasal sprays that come with tenacious side-effects my other doctors had been giving me the last couple of years!

With that new hope, I've just joined a running club - Brooks Running Club in Ipoh. So yes, naturally every member is a Brooks believer. I was first introduced to the line of shoes by my Uncle Nat, who is also a club member. Nat's been running with Brooks for many years now. Back then, I couldn't fathom the idea of wearing such ugly designs and colours. Mind you, Brooks women's range has some of the unsportiest colours I've ever seen. And sadly it's still true till today. I could only hope that they'd pick up some refreshing design ideas from Nike or something. A simple thing like shoes in pastels could be phycologically de-motivating for some people such as myself. I like edgy, sporty colours when it comes to sports wear, especially shoes. Anyways, after a string of bad shoe experiences, I decided to give Brooks a try. Having tried the full range, technology spoke for itself. It was easy to disregard its looks over comfort! Fell in love with it and invested in my first Trance in 2009. I have a recorded distance of 1200km with that pair, and I ran five races with it last year. Trance gives the best support and helps to get and stay in my zone for a good time. It's like being in a trance, really. I can't ask for more, can I? For someone who dreads running, the shoes make running seem like freedom.

Trance 10

Of course at the club, we get a good discount :) I just bought my second pair of Trance and can't wait to start serious training for my next run in July. I think joining the club is a great getaway from home whenever I am back here. Although I enjoy training alone, running with others who have interesting stories to tell is inspiring. Headed by Coach Alvin, daily training sessions are held at the quiet Thompson Pine neighbourhood, near Taman Rekreasi Sultan Abdul Aziz or better known as the Polo Ground. Members who come for training are of all races and ages. Mothers and daughters. Sons and fathers. Senior citizens. Teenage friends who focus on races. Individuals. Varied personal reasons.

For the first time this year, I'd be running in a charity relay run for AIDS awareness tomorrow. A short, less than 2km distance on my part to get in the zone again! Not forgetting the new meds - my head is free of pains at the moment (although it simply may be on a standby mode now - too soon to speak, but I can't help it nevertheless).

The Mean One

WHAT do I do without prompts during sluggish times like this. Thanks to Mama Kat's. I'd share something mean someone had said to me once, and why it has stuck with me after all these years. You know how some people are plain weird ? The type that others would avoid simply because it's the easy way out around them? I've always thought that some of these individuals are just lonely and they could do with company once in a while. That's how I ended up spending some tea breaks with Madam X because most people just avoided her. So yeah. I took pity. Madam X was a smart lady with just too many personal issues that sometimes screwed up her talents. Often in a dreamy state, she loved talking about the drama that went on in her life and I'd always just listened. She also frequently went off topic and lectured about randoms things like what's inside a computer or the circuit of an electrical device. Now that's clearly not my cup of tea but I'd alway...

One True Love

YOU know how certain perfumes just don't work for some people no matter what the rave reviews are? A fine example is the iconic Chanel No. 5, which basically smells like baby powder on me. Then there was a Michael Kors that made me smell like I'd just emerged from an Indian temple - over-powering with tactless musky jasmine notes. Oh, and a Cartier that on its own smelled like my grandmother's spice shelf. So over the years, I've pretty much kept to the same perfumes that I'm comfortable with. Kenzo Flower was a favourite once. Took me a few bottles and some years to realise that it wasn't exactly me. Then came along Estee Lauder's Beyond Paradise before I moved on to an Issey Miyaki I adored. In the recent years, I've fallen in love with Burberry Weekend - a scent that may have appeared a little too strong but it has worked for me as it made me feel like I was on an Arabian Desert Safari apart from somewhat reminding of Annick Goutal's Le Jasmin. ...

Shit Happens

MAYBE it helps to appear confident and sure of yourself even if your mind is tangled up in a Cuban whore house sometimes. Or how else are you going to get away from being handcuffed and dragged shamefully into the security room when you've absent-mindedly walked out of a luxury boutique with a RM15,000 (about USD$ 5000) handbag on your arm, unpaid for! Silly me. It happened a couple of days ago at a Louis Vuitton boutique in town. I was with a friend, looking for a certain handbag ( Oh, RC . I don't usually do this : stopping by to check out an obscenely-priced handbag because I still rather go on a whimsical holiday to the land of exotica which for me is Africa :p ) Funny thing is when I walked out of the store, the well-dressed security officer, looked at us and the handbag, and let us go with a gay smile. "Thank you, maam, and have a good evening," he said, holding the door open for us. Now, I hope his mind was also tangled up in a Cuban whore house becaus...

Gorilla Bananas14 May, 2011
Your new doctor sounds like gold dust and it's ironic that you call him "eye candy" given that your profile picture keeps getting cuter. Do you swap interesting stories while you're running?
mummyshirley14 May, 2011
glad u r back on track .. with such great improvement! ;-)
JJ14 May, 2011
It's my Twitter profile pic, and I like it too. Thanks! Actually GB, I don't do the talking. I ask one question and these people can talk without panting while maintaining a steady pace, unlike me. That's why I like running alone. No panting. No pressure. I have weak lungs! Still adapting to running :)
JJ14 May, 2011
Thanks Shirley. I certainly feel better now without the one-sided headaches :)
Number 1116 May, 2011
Ah, l love running. I envy those who can wear those sexy Nike/Adidas designs. I have wonky feet so wear super-orthopaedic trainers that look like they belong to an 80 year old. And then spray paint them neon.Hope the training is going well! x
JJ16 May, 2011
N 11: Welcome ! Yes I love those vibrant Nike/ Adidas designs too. At one point Fila had some fresh, edgy ones too, but hv gone boring now. Oh well. End of day, ppl like us who are into running wld succumb to ugly trainers just to be able to run :) we get a good high from it!
Btw, I also fear the sea n jelly fish.

Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

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