Running Further

Hort Park, taken
several weeks back

I have made some progress since coming back from Kuala Lumpur last week.  Last Saturday, I ran for 2 hours; I have never ran that long before in my life. And then on Sunday, I ran another 2.5 hours. What really helped was trying out a new route as it distracted me from thinking about how long I have been out or how long more I have to run. It also helped that I bought a drink to rehydrate myself in the last quarter of my run. The best thing about being able to run long distance is that the 40-50 minute runs in the weekday mornings have become a lot less of a mental battle.

This morning, I was hoping to do another 2.5 hour run. You notice that I never talk about the distance - I run very slowly. About 30 minutes into the run, I tripped on an uneven surface and fell on the pavement. Fortunately, my reaction was pretty good and I used my hands to break the fall. One of my shoes came off, which was kinda funny. I am slow but not necessarily steady. The first thought I had was perhaps I should go home. I got up and checked for damages. I felt slightly bruised on the knees and palms but there was no bleeding, so I decided to continue with the run.

After running one of my usual route, I headed towards Kent Ridge Park. Running down South Buona Vista is a confidence booster. I ran slowly because I knew that at some point I will have some slopes to climb, which I just hate. Soon enough was the turn up to Kent Ridge Park. I saw someone who seemed like a regular runner stop to walk up the slope but I decided to carry on running... for 50 meters before I resorted to walking too. I was huffing and puffing as I dragged myself up the slope. The people which I was passed must have wondered why I took so much effort just walking.

When I got to the park, I started running again. Running after stopping for a minute was something I just couldn't do in the past. What is at rest remains at rest for the rest of the day. But I realised I could do it when I ran in KL recently. I stopped to take some photos of the city during the run so I have learnt to adapt. From KRP, I ran to Holt Park, again a downhill run followed by a slope up to the visitors centre. I headed straight to the water cooler to hydrate myself. I almost made up my mind to head home but I wasn't sure if I could get a cab (I didn't have my phone with me).

I decided to carry on with the run towards the Henderson Wave. That involved a long stretch up the Canopy Walk. There were parts where I walked because I felt I had enough of running for the day. And there were parts where I ran slow-motion because I thought there was no point walking if I was still going to cover the same distance. Indecisiveness. I felt good getting to the Wave because I knew there were no more uphill slopes after that. When I got down to Westcoast Highway, I had done 2.5 hours so I decides to try to push for 3 hours. It was so tempting to get on the train at the Telok Blangah MRT station, but I continued at turtle pace to finish the run at Labrador Park MRT.

It amazes me how people can run a full marathon under 3 to 4 hours. I am just happy running 3 hours whatever the distance, preferably without upward slopes.