Thursday, December 18, 2008

And Off I Ran.

A few months before my first marathon, I bought a new pair of trainers from Mustafa. Not realizing that I had tried them on without the socks, I happily took the trainers to East Coast for a good spin. My halluces began to hurt and that was when I realized that I've worn a size too small.

The next few weeks were gruesome. Both of my toenails started coming off, while a part of the nail (which was turning greenish) was still stubbornly lodged onto the toe. I freaked out and visited the doc, who told me that everything was normal - all you need to do is to wait for the toenail to drop off and a new one to grow.

So after my race, I looked at my nails and there were still dangling there. I said, "what the fuck lah" and yanked them off. It was painless and bloodless. From then I swore I'll never run another marathon. My thighs ached badly everytime I did a distance above 15km, I was exhausted after every training session, my knees felt like jello and I had to pop pills which names I couldn't even pronounce nor remember.

I never really got into training mode with my regular buddies again. We would usually schedule a run almost every week around the marina south area, but that came to a halt.

So while I'm trying to find a reason to run again, I was holidaying in Tokyo when Qian Long introduced me to this Japanese artiste called Kazumasa Oda. I loaded his music into my shuffle and ran. Oda's music is mostly melodious, inspirational (not in the GOD sense) and motivational (again, not in the GOD sense). But they made me run well.

And when it was a bad day at work, I ran. When it was a good day, I ran too. Sometimes I ran really fast because there was a dog hot on my heels, and sometimes I'm just incredibly hungry I can't wait to grab dinner. There were times I ran really badly - after my no holds barred pig-out trip in Penang or when I just didn't have enough sleep. But I had Oda's music spinning in my head even when I was running without my shuffle.

As July quietly sneaked up and the registration for the marathon opened, I still couldn't find a bloody reason. So I said "what the fuck lah" and meekly joined the line while trying to avoid getting interviewed by Paula Malai on why I'm running.

December 7 came and everything seemed to go downhill after the 21km-mark. There were major, painful cramps on my left thigh as I inched closer to the finishing line. I promised myself not to stop - because there were too many freaking people looking at me and taking photographs. Look gung-ho! Look really intense! Squeeze your arms! Har! Yah!

I completed the race 5 minutes slower than my 2007 timing and was totally immobilized after crossing the finish line due to the excrutiating cramps. I had to shove my muscle back to where it belong before I could start limping again, while the first-aid auntie was looking at me with grave concern.

But then I realize that this wasn't about greenish, dangling toenails, Kazumasa Oda, my bad day at work or even the seemingly endless path along East Coast every Saturday morning. Some run to remember someone, others run to forget. I run because I want to remember everyone and everything that has brought me this far.

Till then, it's time for me to pick up my trainers again and look forward to December 6, 2009.