Taking Time Off to Focus on Fitness

By Alice Truong

Please see Corrections & Amplifications below

THE EXEC

After partying too much in her 20s, Alison Shaw decided she needed a healthier lifestyle and started running twice a week. Running became a passion of hers: She eventually upped her running to about six times a week and started competing in races. Now at 38, with about 20 races—three of them marathons—under her belt, she is overhauling her life to focus solely on fitness. Ms. Shaw is planning to leave her job as head of English editorial services at Hang Seng Bank Ltd. to spend time training for and competing in marathons and weight lifting.

“I decided to make 2011 a year for pursuing personal goals,” she says. “Training has taught me about setting goals for myself and given me a bit of confidence to try new things.”

Ms. Shaw says she will spend the first quarter of this year finishing her work commitments and continuing to save money. The rest of the year she will work on training her body to achieve three physical goals. First, she wants to complete a marathon in less than three hours—her record marathon-distance speed is currently three hours and 15 minutes and her official marathon best, at Phuket in 2010, is three hours and 27 minutes. Second, she plans to run a three-day 126.6-kilometer ultramarathon at the end of the year. Her last goal is to be able to powerlift 200 kilograms. Powerlifting is a sport in which competitors are allowed three attempts to lift a weight.

“I’ve definitely developed a passion for fitness,” says Ms. Shaw, who is also running in the 10K at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on Feb. 20.

THE WORKOUT

Ms. Shaw started working with a Crossfit personal trainer in 2009. Crossfit emphasizes training the entire body, focusing on building strength, metabolic condition, stamina, agility and power. The workouts incorporate running, jumping, rowing, powerlifting and swinging kettlebells (iron cannonball-like weights), among other activities.

“After the first one or two sessions, I felt like I was hit by a bus,” she says. “I think I realized what a one-dimensional athlete I was.”

A sample exercise includes doing five rotations of squat presses with a barbell and an equal number of pull-ups. Other exercises include the double under—jumping rope where the rope passes under your feet twice in a single jump. Ms. Shaw, who said she could barely do a single push-up before starting her Crossfit training, can now do about 25 to 30 in succession.

On Mondays and Thursdays mornings, Ms. Shaw trains for an hour with her trainer at Crossfit Asphodel in Quarry Bay. If time allows, she tries to work in a Saturday session as well.

“All-around fitness is equally important because it really supports you in your running,” Ms. Shaw says. Before she started her personal training, she said a 10K race would take her about 44 minutes to complete. Now, she clocks one in at about 38 minutes.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, Ms. Shaw hits the treadmill for about half an hour, covering a distance of about seven to eight kilometers when she is focusing on speed. On Saturdays, she goes for longer outdoor runs, about 15 to 30 kilometers, starting at 6:30 a.m. On a recent weekend, she ran 20 kilometers in an hour and 40 minutes.

“Sometimes I run home from work with my backpack—looking very attractive—from Central to Aberdeen because that’s where I need to catch my ferry,” says Ms. Shaw, who lives on Lamma Island. Central is about eight kilometers from Aberdeen.

Even though Lamma Island is a favorite running spot of hers, she said running paths are limited because of the island’s small size. Instead she often opts to run on the south side of Hong Kong Island.

THE DIET

Ms. Shaw has been a vegetarian since she was 12.

“When you eat a vegetarian diet, it can be a bit difficult in this town,” she says. She finds it easier to cook at home.

Ms. Shaw likes to start her day with a bowl of oatmeal or some Greek yogurt. She avoids the sugars in juices and drinks only water. For lunch, she often has a large salad with nuts, avocados, asparagus and peppers. She likes to balance it out with protein, such as lentils, tofu or edamame. For dinner, she likes to prepare a vegetable stir fry. Between breakfast and lunch, she often snacks on a handful of nuts or a grapefruit.

When training for a marathon, Ms. Shaw will increase her calorie intake. “That entails eating a bit more of everything instead of dramatic changes in the type of stuff I eat,” she says.

COST AND GEAR

Ms. Shaw has about 20 pairs of shoes, which she estimates cost her a total of about 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$1,284). Some shoes are designated for speed work, others for longer runs. She also keeps several pairs in the office in case she decides to run home. Among her favorites are a pair of Mizuno Wave Ekiden racing flats that cost about HK$800 and a pair of Vibram FiveFingers that cost about HK$1,000. Her Vibram shoes are molded to the toes, like gloves for the feet. The shoes allow feet and toes to move more naturally, according to the manufacturer, improving the range of motion in ankles, feet and toes.

“It’s almost like wearing your bare feet,” she says. “You get a few quality stares when you wear those in the streets.”

Ms. Shaw likes to run with a Garmin watch that tracks her pace and distance, which she picked up for about US$250. Her gym membership fee is HK$1,800 a month, and her personal training sessions cost HK$650 an hour. She spends about HK$1,000 a year on racing fees. She also uses a foam roller, about HK$400, to stretch her muscles.

FITNESS TIP

Ms. Shaw recommends stretching muscles using a foam roller to increase mobility. “You can use them to roll out the adhesions in the tissues in your muscles,” she says.

QUICK FIX

When Ms. Shaw is in a time crunch, she will try to squeeze in a workout by “running all out for a minute” followed by a minute of slow jogging. She will do about six to eight intervals of this.

Sometimes, she’ll use spare moments to practice certain skills, such as using a broomstick to improve her lifting form. And if no one in the office is looking, she’ll do a couple push-ups in her office, she says.

THE PLAYLIST

“I actually find for running, it’s a time of reflection,” Ms. Shaw says. She prefers to listen to podcasts or unplug from her iPod completely. “I like to focus on being in the moment, on thoughts, on breathing, on foot form.”

Corrections & Amplifications: Ms. Shaw said, “Exercise has definitely given me the confidence to try new things,” and “Training has taught me about setting goals for myself and given me a bit of confidence to try new things.” An earlier version of this article incorrectly quoted her as saying: “Exercise has taught me about setting goals for myself and given me a bit of confidence to try new things,” and “Training has taught me about setting goals for myself and given me a bit of confidence to try new things.”