Tuesday, August 28, 2007

weeks before the day, i was unusually tempted to 'sabo' myself. coupled with an oddly high dose of lazy pill, i almost always chose the staircases over running. (the rear should not live up to its name and head south! i was a paranoid android for a moment. hence, the stairmasters and staircases.. -_-)

to top it off, i was soooo tempted to feign ignorance of ever signing up for the event after realising i had to retrieve my runner's pack myself from (of all places) mount faber(???).
truth be known, i've never stepped anywhere near that remote (but not even remotely high) mountain of ours. -_-

even on the actual day, i pulled off one of my most moyok faces while i questioned my sanity and ability to make sound judgements once and for all, as i peeled myself off from bed and outta home at 6-freaking-30 in the obscenely early sunday morning.
and in case you missed that bold and underlined, lemme italic-ed it for you: sunday morning.

moments before the flag off.... i suffered the pre-run jitters as images of being trampled on (cos i couldnt run fast enough) by thousands-odd enthusiastic runners behind me ran through my silly head.
my imagination, clearly running faster than my legs -_-
.
.
.
.
and then.... it was over.
all 6-km of it (anti-climax, i know).

2 days of having taken stock of sunday's event and i have to say this:
no regrets.
even after considering the many moyok expressions and kopet faces i made within that span of 2 hours before the race.

as crazy as this might sound (and boy, does it sound barmy) i have always wanted to try a mass event run like this. just for the experience. just for the heck of it.
i have initially wanted to sign up for the stand-chart 10-km... except for the fact that it fell right smack on my wedding day... (and that's really taking the idea of 'runaway bride' a bit too seriously) or the shape run....except registrations closed barely 2 weeks after due too overwhelming response.

but still, the real question is: will i do it again?

personally, i've always set a 10-km as a definitive distance. its not even half of your half-marathon, i know. but for me, its enough. and though i have to date only manage to plateau at around the 7-km mark... i know would love to reach that other 3-km someday. its not easy, nobody says it is... but i still would love to manage a 10-km.

as i've told im, its the knowledge that i can complete the run that matters. and this said completion could be achieved just about anywhere..... except maybe along slimy, slippery roadsides.

i certainly don't need the 60, 000 odd people running alongside for me to finish the distance. that amounts to 60, 000 odd less body odour to sniff in and 12,000 odd less feet to get tangled with.

on the other hand... if there's one thing i realised, its that the throngs of people running alongside you does have a remarkable, inexplicable effect of propelling you forward.
and that kinda rush in itself, might be addictive.

so would i do it again?

undecidedly... no.
decidedly... maybe.

r.z 8:23 PM  0 comments