Sunday, the dedicated day to rest B.R (Before I started Running). I used to get up at normal civil times and go about a lazy day, perhaps throw in a game of squash, swimming, sunbathing, eating out. Yes those were the days, long, long ago, B.R. A little over four years ago I started running and became a social runner with the aim to just be able to keep up with my newly found running buddies who would effortlessly do the Hartamas loop whilst chatting non-stop!
Encouraged, although I prefer the term, coerced, to start running on Sunday mornings, 21K seemed an insurmountable challenge. Run 21k on a Sunday morning? And worse still get up at 5:15am to do it!! Buggar that for a game of soldiers. And so the weeks and months went by until one day I turned up. I can’t say I fell in love with putting one foot in front of the other at a pace slightly faster than my regular walk, enjoyable. I would cough and splutter my way around the hills and inevitably get dropped from the group before we ever reached Duta.
Three Christmas’s ago I ran on Christmas Day. I had not run 21k for a about 6months but thought what the heck. I walked up that nasty hill (I know there are too many to count) but you know the one, coming back past Bukit Tunku, up that incline! I remember getting home that day looking forward to a Christmas morning cook up only to have my hot bath (BIG mistake) and faint!
Since that day I have regularly run on Sundays. Persevering, through a lot of sweat and coughing and with the help of my supremely more gifted and very patient running buddies, Sunday became a regular fixture in the week. Miss it and huge, I mean HUGE guilt complexes would come to haunt. Brunch was also a regular fixture, Sunday became not a total day of rest but it became one I looked forward to, it had meaning and breakfast tastes soooo much better when you have ran half a marathon (not many people can atest to that each week), and have you ever seen the look on their faces when they learn this fact - dumbstruck wonder - very COOL!
Well, nothing stays the same forever. Things change. I still do my Sunday run, although these days while in heavy triathlon training mode, there is not a lot I like about my Sunday run. As training nears the final couple of weeks, just turning up and doing the time, (2hrs:40mins) is as much as I can do. I leave my ego in bed and if I can stay with the group, great. If I can’t so be it – I know they are there and that is all I have ever needed to carry on and keep moving forward.
Once that run is in the bag I know I have the rest of the day at leisure. No more training until 7:30am Monday. It may not seem long, but it is bliss. It feels like a day and almost is. Most weekends these days a few of us gather at a well known coffee shop for caffeine fixes and breakfast. It’s not a fixed agenda but has almost become a regular hangout. With our tired legs we relax, chat and chow, it is simply the best way to start/continue the day – with likeminded friends.
Today we finished up breakfast and went for a massage. Spontaneous, absolutely, but I know I am not the only walking like John Wayne, and so S.Sam, Kona Carmen and RHBee really did not need much convincing!
I am now waiting for the Federer/Nadel tennis match to start. I have absolutely nothing else to do today and I LOVE that. In fact, once that run is finished, I LOVE SUNDAYS!
Encouraged, although I prefer the term, coerced, to start running on Sunday mornings, 21K seemed an insurmountable challenge. Run 21k on a Sunday morning? And worse still get up at 5:15am to do it!! Buggar that for a game of soldiers. And so the weeks and months went by until one day I turned up. I can’t say I fell in love with putting one foot in front of the other at a pace slightly faster than my regular walk, enjoyable. I would cough and splutter my way around the hills and inevitably get dropped from the group before we ever reached Duta.
Three Christmas’s ago I ran on Christmas Day. I had not run 21k for a about 6months but thought what the heck. I walked up that nasty hill (I know there are too many to count) but you know the one, coming back past Bukit Tunku, up that incline! I remember getting home that day looking forward to a Christmas morning cook up only to have my hot bath (BIG mistake) and faint!
Since that day I have regularly run on Sundays. Persevering, through a lot of sweat and coughing and with the help of my supremely more gifted and very patient running buddies, Sunday became a regular fixture in the week. Miss it and huge, I mean HUGE guilt complexes would come to haunt. Brunch was also a regular fixture, Sunday became not a total day of rest but it became one I looked forward to, it had meaning and breakfast tastes soooo much better when you have ran half a marathon (not many people can atest to that each week), and have you ever seen the look on their faces when they learn this fact - dumbstruck wonder - very COOL!
Well, nothing stays the same forever. Things change. I still do my Sunday run, although these days while in heavy triathlon training mode, there is not a lot I like about my Sunday run. As training nears the final couple of weeks, just turning up and doing the time, (2hrs:40mins) is as much as I can do. I leave my ego in bed and if I can stay with the group, great. If I can’t so be it – I know they are there and that is all I have ever needed to carry on and keep moving forward.
Once that run is in the bag I know I have the rest of the day at leisure. No more training until 7:30am Monday. It may not seem long, but it is bliss. It feels like a day and almost is. Most weekends these days a few of us gather at a well known coffee shop for caffeine fixes and breakfast. It’s not a fixed agenda but has almost become a regular hangout. With our tired legs we relax, chat and chow, it is simply the best way to start/continue the day – with likeminded friends.
Today we finished up breakfast and went for a massage. Spontaneous, absolutely, but I know I am not the only walking like John Wayne, and so S.Sam, Kona Carmen and RHBee really did not need much convincing!
I am now waiting for the Federer/Nadel tennis match to start. I have absolutely nothing else to do today and I LOVE that. In fact, once that run is finished, I LOVE SUNDAYS!
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