No titles about hot women because there are none to speak of

Thanks to all who have sent me congratulatory messages. I really appreciate it.

With the haze making a return to Malaysia I am quite thankful that I can use the gym and continue with my workouts. Sure, running on a treadmill is nothing compared to running outdoors, but under the circumstances, my health comes first and I'm not going to inhale copious amounts of smog by running outdoors. By the way, the smog really stinks.

I don't want to suffer any smog/haze related illnesses because I was doing a sport that is supposed to make me healthier in the first place. That would be defeating. So, until the air quality improves, I will do most of my workouts on the treadmill, in the gym. This will also give me an opportunity to do some cross training (cycling, for instance), and weight training to strengthen certain parts of my body.

I've been going to the gym since last Tuesday, the scheduled day for track at Kampung Pandan. I was having tea with John at Jaya Jusco Taman Maluri around 4pm and I didn't realise the severity of the haze until I drove out from the indoor parking lot. Visibility was reduced to about 1km. I did go to track to assess the situation and it was then that I decided to head to the gym. Since then, I've done most of my running in the gym.

I just purchased this month's edition of Runner's World. While the cover is not as exciting as last month's, it does feature an emaciated, gaunt and skinny Meb Keflezighi, silver medallist in the Marathon at last year's Olympics. He was wearing Nike Frees. And he looked very lean and muscular, a perfect endurance machine but some may argue that he looks skinny, especially his gaunt face. But he is probably in the right weight range for a runner - 5' 5" tall, about 56kgs. The article in Runner's World talks about how the general American public are slow to accept Meb as a home-grown, American runner because he originated from the country of Eritrea, which were engaged in a civil war with Ethiopia for some time. It's quite sad, really, when you read the article because, despite his success (delivering USA their first medal in the marathon since Frank Shorter in the 1976 Olympics) , you realise that Meb is still trying to win over the cynical American public bent on getting excited over the "home-grown", local talents like Dathan Ritzenhein and Galen Rupp, as the next American distance prodigy while leaving him out altogether.

There is a similar situation here in Malaysia. Yuan Yufang was originally from China is now competing for Malaysia. I can't really speak for all Malaysians but personally for me, when she was competing in the walk events for Malaysia, I was cheering her on. I never thought that she was not "home-grown" and therefore less deserving of my support. I've seen her in any races here in Malaysia and I think there is a general respect and admiration for her abilities. Readers, what do you think?

The haze is bad again today so looks like I'll be heading to the gym. Readers, work-out smart and safe.