Day 3

I knew today was gonna be difficult.  I was feeling sleepy since lunchtime because of the cough medicine that Im taking.  Plus Im training alone.  It was just so tempting to ditch it and sleep early.  But lo and behold, I managed to talk myself to run :)

The first five minutes of the run was funny and such a hassle.  My beltbag was slipping.  My hairband wasnt tight enough so my hair was slipping too.  My shorts were, again, slipping, but upwards :)

But anyway, I survived that.

The first km was difficult. And the next km.  I felt heavy but the upbeat track that I was listening to helped a bit.

Initially, I was thinking of just running within the neighborhood.  I only needed 4-5km today anyway.  But then again, Forrest Gump was kinda right, at some point, you just cant stop running.

When I reached Serangoon Road, I was ready to head back.  That was approx 3km so I could cover 6km if I run on my way home.  But curiosity got the best of me.  I was following the canal and when I got to the block after Serangoon Rd, my turning point last time because I thought the passage was blocked, I went and checked if there was a way to the canal.  And there was!

Thats the flyer right there

I was smiling when I got there.  When Pacer reminded me that I was already running for 30 mins I think with 3.9km and it looked like I was just at the beginning of the park connector, I was so happy because I know that I needed to get to the end of it before I could find my way home.  These things make me realize, I enjoy running better and cover more distance when I dont know where Im heading to.  If the route is familiar and I know that I am close to/far from home, I get bored or lazy.  The sense of proximity makes me slack (ugh, I couldnt think of that other word which is more appropriate in this context).  Unfamiliarity excites me and pushes me to just go and reach the end.

And I think running is a good way of knowing the inner parts of the city which one would never get to see if you're in a bus or an MRT.  One interesting sight that I saw on my way was this group of old men, chatting in the middle of an arched bridge.  They were there, the four of them, with their stools, right in the middle of the bridge, simply enjoying their own sweet, leisure time.

Urban centipede

Anyway, I ended up in Kallang MRT.  Pacer said that I ran 45 mins and covered 5km.  But I wanted to do 6km.  So I ran some more.  6km for 55 mins.  At this pace, I could finish 21km within the 4-hr cut-off time. Pwede na but I need to improve.

I walked the rest of the 2km home.