My Morning Run

It was a warm and humid morning. The 7.40 am start time at Anglo Chinese School (where my sons study) had come and gone.My 2 sons were already in school and here I was lacing up my running shoes for my first 5K run in 10 days. I was feeling overweight,having spent the last 2 weeks travelling to first Thailand for 3 days and then this week to Kuala Lumpur for 2 days.

This week had started on a stressful note as I had to make my way to KL for a series of meetings. There were some concerns on my business dealings which I had to attend to personally and the meetings would determine how I was going to proceed on certain things. I put aside the past days activities and focussed on running.

It was 7.45 am and off I started on my run. I was feeling fresh from a 7 hour sleep and hoped to make a good time. I had set myself a goal of running 5 km in 30 minutes and normally would run around that time, depending on my energy level and enthusiasm.

"Why run ?" is a commonly asked question of me over the years. Well why not ? The benefits far outweigh the negatives
and I have been running for the greater part of my life. I never really thought about it but if I had put my mind to it in my younger days,safe to say, I would have been a very good runner and possibly be able to represent my school or university.
Alas, I was distracted by other options before me, such as taking part in the University debates, playing waterpolo, swimming and squash. I am not one to boast but I represented all these sports and activities at University, school and club level at some point in my youth.

Running for me is for 3 main reasons :

1. STRESS RELIEF : In today's highly stressed and competitive working world, stress levels are high, especially if you have to manage a business, a growing family and also volunteering time for a charity.I have had my fair share of IBS or irritable bowel syndrome (gastric pain), sleepless nights and tension headaches so running is one quick way to alleviate these stress related diseases. However, the body has to exercise ENERGETICALLY at least 30 minutes before endorphins (feel good chemicals) are released. The endorphins are similar to morphine and are your body's natural defense mechanisms to protect itself and immunise itself. It also calms the nerves and does a whole lot of good to me. its a fact that since I started running, I have not had a single visit to the ENT doctor for almost 10 years - touch wood.

2. LOOKING GOOD : Who doesn't want to look good ? By running, my body automatically and speedily releases all trapped gases and liquids through sweat, flatulence and all manner of toxic substances are discharged. It is a proven fact that weight loss during rigorous exericse is normally water loss but coupled with lesser appetite due to the peristaltic or digestion process slowing down, I am less hungry than if I am not exercising. So I look leaner and trimmer, I think.

3. TO ACHIEVE A GOAL. Each year I set some personal goals, so for my health,it is to run at least 1 marathon, or ideally 2,time permits. The marathon is the pinnacle of distance running and to be able to run it in a decent time, say 4 hours and 30 minutes is one of my life's goals. So far, my best time has been 4 hours and 48 minutes, timed on 2007.

The key thing is this, in setting this difficult goal, I have to break it down into many small minute goals, on a daily, weekly,fortnightly and monthly goals before I can have the stamina base to run the full 42 km. To set the bar too low, to say run a 10K would be meaningless for me as I can routinely run 10K in a single run so THE GOAL MUST BE SIGNFICANT.

If I have no goal to aim for, I will not achieve anything significant

So here I was at the end of January, starting out running 5km in the morning and hoping to increase my run distance to 10km in February and longer in the coming months. It was a sweaty and tiring task which at my age of 47, I realise that I don't have time on my side-but I have, I must think positive and move forward.

The first 100m up was up a slope of Goldhill Avenue. I was running at mid pace,doing a gallop and me knees, calves,hamstrings and upper body all work in tandem. It was relatively easy at first.At the top of the slope,I reached the playground and headed towards the 'forest'- a lovely wooded area at the back of Swiss Cottage Estate. I aimed to run 10 rounds around a rectangular concrete field. As I headed into the forest, I spotted an elderly group of people doing their morning "Qi Gong". So I cut short my 10 rounds so as not to disturb them and ran only 1 round.

After the fun in the forest, I ran 6 rounds around the Goldhill Park, which was about the equivalent distance of the 9 rounds and head towards Mount Rosie Road,where my son's friend, Yue Meng,lives. My pacing had been quite regular and I was feeling energised from the fresh air in my head and lungs. I saw several residents in the park and along the way I made an effort to greet them,although not all returned the greeting, some of them casting away their looks as I approach and some returned my nod with a hearty "good morning".

I have some worries and stresses,but assure myself that over time, I can overcome all of them and running is a good way to have time to myself to think through my problems independently and work out possible solutions.

At Mount Rosie's end,I turned towards Malcolm Road, and there the struggle began. I was not fit and started feeling sluggish.Damn, I thought, the last few days I had been feasting on sinful foods in Malaysia like Nasi Bryani,chicken wings and pizza and their calorie addition was taking an adverse effect on my overweight body. I was struggling - and with just half way of my run, I wanted to stop and walk.

"Don't walk, assess yourself!" I mentally chided myself. I checked my 'system'.Everything was OK, except for my left patella (knee) which was aching a little.Everything else from my lungs,my breathing,my legs and my upper body were doing just fine.I just felt sluggish. I did not want to roll over and fall asleep, No, I was just running at too fast a pace !

So I slowed down my run and laboriously ran up the Malcolm Hill. At the top, my stride opened up and I increased my cadence (stride distance) and at the same time increased my footstrike frequency. (Number of times your foot hits the ground per minute).

At the bottom of the hill at Tanglin Constituency Club,I hit the checkpoint (literally). This was a traffic sign board which marks the 3/4 mark with about 1.5 km left. I extended my hand and hit the checkpoint on purpose, "Clang" !. Now I had to push on beside the traffic congested Whitley and Dunearn Roads to reach home. I was filled with renewed enthusiasm and the thought.

"Don't stop, you can do it !" My heart was pounding and my pace was regular, although a little slow. I thought about how far I had come and how much more I had to suffer before reaching the end point.
It was tiring and overwhelming just thinking about finishing it.

"Carry On !" Ignoring the ache in my lungs and my left knee, I pressed on with all my might and race with the pace my tiring limbs could muster." I must reach the end and finish the goal." I told myself.

Turning round the bedn towards Goldhill Avenue, I finished with a flourish and raised my hand in salute to the day. I had finished the race. My race, my challenge. The pain had subsided and all that remained was the satisfaction of finishing it and in good time too. 30 minutes and 12 seconds.

"Tomorrow will be another run"