Monday, December 3, 2007

Episode 420

I think I have not written a lot about the journey of events that leads to the race that I am about to attempt on December 2, 2007. It sort of started when I was training for my IPPT (or Individual Physical Proficiency Test), the sad and inhumane test that every able-bodied Singaporean male has to go through. We had to run 2.4km under 12:20 minutes to quality for a pass, and so I dragged myself to the park one evening. I ran one kilometre and gave up.

Two days later I went again; things seem a little easier but still I wasn't able to complete the full 2.4km. It really wasn't easy when you're out of breath and your legs felt like they could fall apart anytime. But I thought, on well, I might has well try to enjoy it anyway.

And there was this Friday evening when I thought if I should just push my boundaries and see how much I could achieve. I reached Punggol Jetty, which is about 6km from the park. Granted it wasn't the longest distance man has possibly covered, but I was secretly pleased with myself - until I realized that I didn't carry any cash and had to walk back home.

But everytime when I'm stressed out from work, I find myself heading out for a run. I could go wherever my legs wanted to, and at the same time I could observe the neighbourhood around me at a leisure pace. I remembered which part of the pavement was uneven, which tree has its branch snapped off during the thunderstorm, and the smell of curry when I pass by the living quarters of the construction workers. Oh - and of course, not forgetting the cute boys that I run into.

So months went by and I decided that I wanted to take part in the full marathon at the end of the year. Wei thought I went crazy when I told him the distance I had to run, but it's a personal achievement I could not resist. It would be a pretty good birthday present for myself, because I'll be officially heading into my thirties when I turn 31 in December (since 30 is considered the end of the 'twenties' spectrum), so this is something good to remember by.

For the past few months I've been trying to cover 15km on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on weekends I go for a long (but extremely tiring) run, and I almost passed out when I clocked my first 40km two Saturdays ago. By 9am the scorching sun was frying everything along its path, and there were many, many occasions when I thought about giving up (which I did sometimes). I experienced several painful leg cramps and was constantly thirsty; my ears clogged up and all I could think about is pain, heat and breathlessness - despite being told that I should distract my mind with something else. So I walked, ran, jogged and dragged myself towards the finishing point. In the end, I took a full five hour to complete 40km - something that I was a little disappointed with, but now I'm inching closer to the end of the tunnel. And despite ending up with a very scary-looking toenail that is in the danger of falling off, it was very much worth it.

So come December 2, 2007, I will be picking up my running shoes and go for the run of my life. If ever (God forbid) I should collapse and never make it back alive, this shall be the final entry of my blog. But I am more optimistic than that; I will make it and I will tell all you fuckers what a bloody good run it was.

See you at the finishing line.

(end of Season 4)