So it is that time of the year again! It is time for me to exhibit my filial piety by visiting my old folks in Penang. Hey, wait a minute! There is a run there too. Yeah, my as well run the run while I do the do - 2 birds; one stone for the killing.
Getting a good night's rest was already a challenge before the real challenge started. We had all passed the stage of going to bed at 9pm but had to, as the race started from 2am. One guy actually suggested doing a MJ-Murray Conrad combo cocktail of propofol! Luckily, common sense prevailed - as if propofol was lying around at our disposal. So, the next best thing to do was counting sheep. Unfortunately being the meticulous shepherd that I am, I just could not complete stabling the sheep as they were just too many. Before I knew it, it was time to get up and I did not even need the alarm. No thanks to the location of the hotel. Despite being housed on the 11th floor, I could still hear crystal clear announcements on the PA system from Ground Zero, downstairs from stroke of midnight.. That is the drawback of getting a venue so near to the starting point. Well, we all get wiser with experience.
Talking about sanity and sense, there was nothing sane about showering at 2am and gearing up for a near midnight run but I should have thought of it before registering. The only people I know who indulge in midnight showers (or rather scented baths- mandi bunga) were people with devilish intent or liaison with pontianak!
Starting promptly at 3am, this time around it is no more the cool ambience and the drizzle that accompanied the run last year. The humongous crowd was a damper at the starting point as the runners kept running into each other's shoes.
Somebody once asked me what goes through my mind when I was running. Besides having morbid thoughts of wondering when my knee would buckle to give up on me and people-antics' watching, there is always time to think what to write in the next blog. During one of these runs, I got a revelation. Running is like childbirth - when you are in it, you curse yourself for getting into the mess you are in but once you see the end product, you soon forget about the torturous unrelenting agony of labour pains and pretty soon you are in the labour room all again in no time. In the case of running it must be the post-run endorphin induced highs and awe received from well wishers! (some call it narcissism)
The 'boom boom pak' beat accompanying Queen's 'We will rock you' set the tempo (on my I-phone) as I ascended the midspam of the Penang Bridge. I guess I was more caught up with the music rather than running as this time around as I completed the run at 2hours 19mins, a good 9 minutes slower than last year. But hey, as a non competitive loser would say, "it was an enjoyable run". To complement the fruit cake, was Amma's excellent preparation of fish curry, chicken peratal, crab sambal with coconut gratings and thosai. My younger son and I flew back home happy, smiling ear to ear.
Getting a good night's rest was already a challenge before the real challenge started. We had all passed the stage of going to bed at 9pm but had to, as the race started from 2am. One guy actually suggested doing a MJ-Murray Conrad combo cocktail of propofol! Luckily, common sense prevailed - as if propofol was lying around at our disposal. So, the next best thing to do was counting sheep. Unfortunately being the meticulous shepherd that I am, I just could not complete stabling the sheep as they were just too many. Before I knew it, it was time to get up and I did not even need the alarm. No thanks to the location of the hotel. Despite being housed on the 11th floor, I could still hear crystal clear announcements on the PA system from Ground Zero, downstairs from stroke of midnight.. That is the drawback of getting a venue so near to the starting point. Well, we all get wiser with experience.
Talking about sanity and sense, there was nothing sane about showering at 2am and gearing up for a near midnight run but I should have thought of it before registering. The only people I know who indulge in midnight showers (or rather scented baths- mandi bunga) were people with devilish intent or liaison with pontianak!Starting promptly at 3am, this time around it is no more the cool ambience and the drizzle that accompanied the run last year. The humongous crowd was a damper at the starting point as the runners kept running into each other's shoes.
Somebody once asked me what goes through my mind when I was running. Besides having morbid thoughts of wondering when my knee would buckle to give up on me and people-antics' watching, there is always time to think what to write in the next blog. During one of these runs, I got a revelation. Running is like childbirth - when you are in it, you curse yourself for getting into the mess you are in but once you see the end product, you soon forget about the torturous unrelenting agony of labour pains and pretty soon you are in the labour room all again in no time. In the case of running it must be the post-run endorphin induced highs and awe received from well wishers! (some call it narcissism)
The 'boom boom pak' beat accompanying Queen's 'We will rock you' set the tempo (on my I-phone) as I ascended the midspam of the Penang Bridge. I guess I was more caught up with the music rather than running as this time around as I completed the run at 2hours 19mins, a good 9 minutes slower than last year. But hey, as a non competitive loser would say, "it was an enjoyable run". To complement the fruit cake, was Amma's excellent preparation of fish curry, chicken peratal, crab sambal with coconut gratings and thosai. My younger son and I flew back home happy, smiling ear to ear.
Great weekend too.
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