Before I Grow Any Older

Folks,

When I first started participating in organized runs, I imagined I would graduate from 5km to 10km. But I gave up on the idea especially because last year my health was really bad. This year, I felt a little better and recently, the ambition to run 10km slowly planted its seeds. One day when we were on a long train ride, I casually mentioned to hubs that I wanted to try a 10km run at least once before I grow too old. Hubs IMMEDIATELY signed me up for Stanchart 2016 10km run. (He has already signed up for himself) You may not know this but 10km is the shortest run in Stanchart Marathon apart from the Kids Dash.

So there's no turning back now. The payment is non-refundable. I have to run 10km in early December.

Today I thought I should try increasing the distance of my run from 5km to whatever I'm capable of. I mean, I'm not going to run 10km for the first time on the day of Stanchart run. That would be crazy. Plus, there is a 2 hour limit for the 10km run. I don't want to be disqualified. It would be so humiliating. So this morning, I gave it a go and I ran until it started to drizzle.

I managed to run 8km in 1h:12min:43s. I'm so happy. I think I can run the additional 2km in under 30min so I need not worry about taking more than 2 hours to run 10km. Woo hoo. What a relief.

Today's run taught me one thing. I ran out of steam at 8km. Totally wiped out. I'm going to have to fuel myself somehow or running the last 2km would be hard. You see, I run on an empty stomach. This is the best way for me. I don't want to run the risk of stomach aches or needing to go to the toilet. I'm thinking of trying energy gels. I hope they don't taste horrible.

Physically, I feel a little tired after running 8km. It is my first 8k after all. My legs hurt a little and I expect to feel sore the next 3 days.

 

I wore my most comfortable Adidas tempo 7 Boost shoes. Hopefully this pair of shoes doesn't break down. I have 3 other pairs of running shoes and they hurt here and there after running. Not this Boost shoes. I love it to death.

I have to explore new running routes. If I were to run by the canal, I would need to loop twice to get the distance needed. Somehow, psychologically, doing a loop dampens my spirit.

Since I have written quite a number of posts on my run, you must be wondering if I love running. To be honest, I don't. When I started running decades ago, it was for fitness and health. I don't play any sports and I thought running was the easiest way to keep fit. Nowadays I have an additional motivation to run. Running clears the wind in my stomach. The first 500m of my run - I can feel a lot of burps coming out. Yes, it's quite disgusting. But after my run, my stomach feels great. My gastritis still comes and goes and it seems, running is medicinal.

Next week, if I don't feel too sore, I shall attempt 10km. Wish me luck.