Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Battle Goes On

Written by MMR … A story on training for the run-up to Sundown Marathon at Singapore on 31 May 2008.

It was Friday evening again, five days after the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon on 30 March 2008. Any sane person who hears me say “Great! Tomorrow is Saturday. This is the highlight of my week – time for my looooong run!” must think that I or any runner for the matter is truly insane. But yet it is true, on my long runs, I get to think, I get to reflect, I get my own time, all to myself. No cell phones, no work, just me and my journey – simply perfect.
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But all perfect plans can be interrupted, such as a mild illness and a recent road race in KLIM 2008 that really knocked me out. Even though my mind was willing and ready to GO (all of 28 km on this Saturday), my body said otherwise. At 5.45 am when the alarm rang, I was sooooo tired that I switched off the alarm clock and only woke up at 7 am; so by the time I got to the park it was 7.45 am. The sun was up! The monkeys were up! The park was full! Alamak! I had to switch to plan B - run half my distance in the morning, then run the other half in the evening.

When I started my run, my whole body and mind was "protesting" to the "torture" I was going to inflict on myself. The brain kept telling me that I did not want to run and my brain actually informed me that my legs hurt – thankfully it was an imaginary pain. Then I spotted a group of photographers in the park for a photography lesson (their lens ranged from the super long lens to the compact cameras) and my brain immediately told me that what I really should be doing this warm morning was to join them since I just got my Nikon D40 SLR camera and I can have some fun.
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The only thing that stopped me from joining them was that I did not have my camera with me. Aiyah! So as you can see, my mind and body were truly in a battle zone – “good” versus “evil”, pain versus fun. Finally, the illogical (thereby “good”) part of the brain did trick me into running, telling myself that it was only for a short while.

I then met my friend, Karina, who was training for her first marathon who appeared out of nowhere and nothing boosts the kia-su ego more than seeing your friend in full running mode with pots of sweat. So off I ran too.

As I ran with my first-time-marathon friend, so called “Jedi Apprentice” as we are all fans of Star Wars and also that she is currently an “apprentice” for the full marathon, I began to reflect on her super enthusiasm for her runs. She is also a perfectionist who has been mulling with the idea to run at night since the Sundown Marathon is at night and she may not be used to the conditions.
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I advised her to drink lots of coffee before the run but I don't think she is convinced with my "advice". My super-charged Apprentice friend is also thinking about running from her house to the city and back to alleviate the boredom of running in familiar circuits. I think this is where my thoughts differ, it is kinda therapeutic running in familiar places that I deem safe and can better gauge my mileage. I am rather boring I know so here was another “battle” – boring familiar route versus new exciting routes.

Click here for website of Sundown Marathon 2008

To be continued …
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Written by MMR
8 April 08
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Reflect on the sins you have committed? ;-} Jokes aside, I totally agree with you that during the long runs, you get to be "all to yourself". Good luck in your training!