Welcome to der Family - der Pacemakers # 80

Like all of you who once had to write your first running reports, I’m extremely happy to be invited to the family of PM.  I consider it both an honour and a responsibility to help in keeping up the spirit of PIA!  A special shout out to Kelvin Yew for introducing me to the family of PM and to Ronnie for inviting me to all those crazy PIA runs!

Way back in time, when Adam Loh was still wearing his ripped slim fit jeans and when it was cool to have shoulder pads outside of sports, I was fairly active but never a runner.  I continued to be active but was never keen on running well into working life until one day a colleague asked me and a few others if we were interested in the 2009 BHP Orange Run.  At that time, I thought to myself, sure, what could be so difficult about running 11km since I already run 3-5km on the treadmill for warm ups.

As anyone who’s run on treadmills before will attest, it turns out that running on the road is an entirely different matter.  By 5km, all the bravado had gone, only to be replaced with regret!  Luckily, the others were in the same boat and we kept on going until one-by-one, our crew grew smaller.  It was a long painful process but when I did cross the finishing line, I thought to myself, “I’d like to do this again!” and I did just that the very next day by signing up for the KL (Half) Marathon in June of that year.  I didn’t know much about training except that I should increase my mileage, which I did so, but on the treadmill.   I eventually got to run 7-8km three times a week which was to prove inadequate.  So, with a faulty training method, a professional exam looming and a change of employment, I was ill prepared for first HM.  I also didn’t know about proper pacing, hydration and etc. (not that I know now J)  Only ignorance was on my side and  during the run, I was severely tested but I survived and I wanted more.

With the new job and added family responsibilities, life was getting stressful and running was an outlet to relieve stress.  It was also a form of personal improvement or, at my age, maintenance because I strongly believe in the adage, “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it”.  Since it is a shared activity, running also creates strong social bonds – around this time I met a group of beginners at work who were also into running.  Although most of them have moved overseas for better work prospects, we still meet up once in a while to run and I get invaluable tips from them from time to time.

During the intervening years, I had been injured twice but thankfully, I was able to bounce back.  My first time (ITB, right knee) was during my first attempt at a marathon or half-marathon-half-walkathon in the 2010 KL Marathon and if that was not enough, I made sure I wasn’t able to run for another 8 weeks at the Klang Centro Run when I kept going until I heard a crackling noise.  That whole week, I couldn’t walk without limping and I had to finally act my age by resting my hands my good knee while coming going down the stairs.  So, after a week of angst and an MRI (turns out the crackling noise might have been a twig I stepped on, lol), the doctor said the unthinkable – rest!  The second time I was injured (ITB, left knee) was in January of this year when I switched to more neutral shoes with lower a lower heel-to-toe drop.  I attribute it to inexperience in buying shoes (my second running shoes) – I was out for about a 1 ½ months.

Fast forward to today, it just seems as if it was yesterday that I picked up running, which happens once you reach a certain age.  Like a child anticipating a weekend treat, running is that something I’ll wake up extra early on my days off… some things in life just never change!  There’s still so much to learn and to perfect.  So many people to meet and share.  But mainly, I run because I feel free, and even if it’s only for a moment, that’s all it takes to make me look forward to the next.

brought 2u by LikSng @ Pm80
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