Staying fit during fasting month

High and Low

I have not that much of mileage and load for training. Just a couple of key sessions per week. Face it, especially if you are working,and have a family, timing semua sure lari no matter how much you try adjust it. But there are no points that I am fretting here. Ramadhan comes once a year, so all we have left is to make the best out of it. The ‘real’ Ramadhan mileage is far more important. SOME people go just the other way round. They skip fasting so that they can train. But… I shall reserve my comments on that as I am nothing near perfect, religiously or other wise. Working on it just like you, insyaAllah.

As of 19 Ramadhan

So far, I have cycled during the weekends, in the morning. Mileage? Not far.. not even 30km. Just focused on building strength and power for the legs. Not too long a session to cause extreme energy drain, and not too short a session that there’s no benefit at all from the training. The couple of times I did my Saturday morning ride was around an hour. Favourite route during these times: Hulu Langat. Not many cars. There are hills. ( I love hills ). And of course, the lush greenery throughout the route. Apart from that, occasionally, I do get uninvited companies be it the monkeys or dogs. Dogs belonging to the orang asli/ durian orchard owner living near that area. They make a good interval training partner if you know what I mean. And of course I had no drinks in the bottle cage. I made sure I stock up enough fluid during sahur (that’s when the Muslims eat before sunrise). I usually eat more than enough, so no worries there. I know I won’t be burning much as the rides are low in intensity and mileage.

Earlier this week I did the Shah Alam loop (yeah, city of roundabouts). The ride was a bit intense. Route was rolling, but short enough for me to survive looking at the low mileage I have been clocking. Night rides usually start after 10pm here in the Klang Valley for Muslims. The timing is convenient enough as we will still have time to breakfast with our families, pray, and travel to the ride venue. Plus there is no point going for training right after breaking fast/a heavy meal as most of our blood and body will be shifted to our gastrointestinal tact (GI tract).

Timing and preparing for the workout

The core understanding on staying fit during this holy month lies in the timing aspect of it. When to run? When to cycle? Unless you are an experienced and elite athlete, you don’t have to worry if you are clocking a 100km ride in the morning and another 30km ‘recovery’ in the afternoon, while fasting. But I am not on of those..I haven’t been working out right BEFORE I break fast though. Body is depleted of nutrition, hence I choose not to train when I am low on fluid and other nutrition.

However, I am planning to run this weekend. 30-40mins. Easy slow run. And of course,I gotta make sure I stock up well during breakfast ! Enough protein and carb ! Gym sessions? So far, tak ada.. (gosh I am so not fit…) Ni semua gara2 kemalasan. Kepenatan tuh accounts for 40% of the reason, or less. Planning to do it after I break fast. But not right after lah.

Celoteh si Julie

So there, some quick update on how I have been working out. I have Desaru just round the corner….aikkss.. I am getting a lot of inspiration lately, especially during this holy month…Well, basically its because I chose to.. If you are 50 years and above.. you likely would have encountered Ramadhan 37 times already.. But if bertahun-tahun ber Ramadhan tapi takde ‘improvement’ jugak dari segi ilahi, payah jugak.. It’s a choice to be made.. and something that relates well to our humility.. Kalau rendah diri, insyaAllah confirm kita akan bersungguh-sungguh untuk hormati bulan yang Mulia ini..dan juga ‘training’ to be a better person. Ramadhan is a refresher,the defragmenter.. the virus cleaner…hihii… so think about it..Apa yang penting untuk kita sebenarnye dalam hidup yang fana ini ? (fana means transitory). Mari kita renungkan untuk diri masing-masing. If puasa and solat complete tapi mulut tuh ‘online’ je sentiasa.. dok kutuk, hina and gossip orang, tuh maksudnye we are not reflecting ourselves well through our prayer and fasting. Puasa tuh mungkin sekadar bertahan lapar. Mungkin tidak.. Just a reminder to myself and all of you.