What do I think about when I am running ?

           Simple, "when is the damn thing going to end ?, Man, I am getting too old for this !  "  In actual fact, both these phrases hardly cross my mind, so no I do not think of negative things. In fact, after reading Haruki Murakami's fine book "What I think about when I think about running" I had an idea to post something similar, and shameless taking the title almost wholesale from his book title.

          I love to run, in fact I started being a running person rather late in life, as my parents had enrolled me in swim school at the young age of about 9, so practically every 5 times a week, I was at Mt.Emily public swimming pool from 5pm to 7pm, under the famous disciplinarian coach Mr. Kee Soon Bee and so we (my brother and I ) started swimming regularly.
  
         So, I never knew I had the talent to run, till about 18 when I was enlisted for National Service. Anyway, that is another story altogether.

        I am a rather lazy runner, but my marathon best times of 4 hours and 45 minutes while not great, are pretty decent, and normally in the top 50% of all runners. So, coming back to the running, actually, like Murakami, running helps my mind go into a void, or blank state.
After a long day's work, thinking of the problems and solutions, it is always calming and very stress relieving for me to unwind with a nice run, most times at a pace which I would call pushing myself, for at least 30 minutes. So, either I will run around my neighborhood, or hit the gym, East Coast Park or McRitchie Reservoir trails for my 'fix'.

       It is the one constant I enjoy wherever I am, the time is the constant 30 minutes to 1 hour, and I may be in another country, but I bring my Kayanos (running shoes) and hit either the gym or the nearby park if its not too late in the day. Chatuchak Park (Bangkok), Ren Ming Guang Chang (Shanghai), The Bund (Shanghai), The Rocks and Sydney Opera House (Sydney), Jardines de Tuilerries (Paris),Botanical Gardens (Penang), along the banks of the Nile (Egypt), pounding the road in Ho Chih Minh(Vietnam) , Wuhan (China),  Giessen (Germany), the others too long ago and not so memorable.

      I remember one infamous incident in Sydney in 2002, my family and another good friend's family were staying in Port Stephens just north of Sydney in a farmhouse for several days. So, one fine morning I decided to run the country road, for about 11km all in and take in the sights, waking up at 5am, I laced my shoes and headed out, after about 5 - 6 km down the country road, I came across the carcass of a dead black snake and decided to return back. Nearing back to the farmhouse, I noticed that the neighbours 2 Doberman Pinschers came out !   I know a little bit of animal psychology, so I exhibited no fear, and continued running at my pace, one dog gave chase, but since I was running away, he followed me for about 10 metres and after that, dropped away and went back to his house. 

     It was a close shave !   
  
      Do I think about more work while I am running ? Of course not ! A run is to me something as basic as breathing fresh air and being alive. I take in the scenery around me and am grateful that I am still able to pound the pavement with the enthusiasm of most people in their prime, in fact many people run out of necessity, I do it for the fun of it.  

     Aren't I lucky ??