Dear Pipsqueaks,
Still walking around like a zombie because I can't really bend my legs, but overall quite alive. So what happened this weekend? Well, yous truly decided to take on a super random challenge of running both the Puma Night Run and the YOLO Run...back to back night and day.
Puma Night Run on the Saturday night; YOLO Run on the Sunday morning. Logic: Using the Puma Run to warm up for YOLO. Which actually, turned out to be completely opposite.
Let's just say, that wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made, but I did enjoy the whole 'trying something for the first time'. Picking up your runners pack, then reaching the festive area just to warm up with other runners. We even zumba-ed a little before the run on Sunday. It wasn't about winning or trying to beat anyone - it was just to participate in something. And I quite miss that kind of experience. Perhaps, it's because of my job where I'm mostly the one planning or organising that I don't really get to be a part of the fun. Not to say that there's no fun in organising but you know what I mean.
So yes, I actually ran the whole Puma 6km except for when I had to fight for a cup of water at the water station. Literally had way too many hands going for the same cup, so I had to stop and look for a free cup. No worries though, was back in pace right after. I managed to finish 6km in 48min32sec (ranked 136 in Open Female category). Definitely better than I expected!
By the time we finished Puma, got home, showered and in bed, it was midnight already. I still remember waking up at 2am, and not being able to fall back to sleep. Perhaps, my body was too hyped from the run? So I laid in bed until 5:30am, got up and pinned my runners bib and was ready by 6am. So odd that I wasn't the least bit hungry.
And here comes Drama. So a friend of mine was supposed to join the three of us for YOLO. Following some discussion towards the end of last night, it sounded as if she was too tired to join after her badminton friendly match. I didn't quite have the patience to read the messages before bed, so I only found out when I woke that she most likely wouldn't join. So I quickly messaged the other two...no response at 6:15am. $*!(_$&_#(_)$*@_ (Yes, I had a moment). Then, my friend DN replied to say her alarm didn't go and that it'll be too late by the time they reach. At that point, I figured none of them would be joining me so I started to mentally prepare myself to run it alone.
Housemate dropped me off at the location and I joined a crowd of strangers in darkness. While trying to stay positive about being alone for a 10km run, there was a call to join the Zumba warm-up. Oh, what the heck, I thought. Might as well try to enjoy myself while I'm here. So I blended into the group of strangers for the Zumba warm-up...and actually, that was pretty fun! By the time we finished three songs, we were called to the flag off point. Then, what do you know? My friends texted to say, they've hopped on the car and are on their way over!
I waited for them at the front to cross the starting line together and the next 10km was actually not so bad. Apart from one of them getting a right butt cheek cramp and my quads totally burning like mad towards the last 5km, I think it was quite enjoyable. The weather was breezy and air was fresh from the storm during the night. Can't say the route was the best ever - at some points we were weaving between huge intersections - but we survived! 1/4 run, 1/4 jog, 1/4 speed walk, 1/4 walk, we actually still managed to finish 10km in 1hr40mins or so. Not bad eh? Instead of Puma being the warm up, YOLO became our warm down and it worked out quite well if I must say so myself.
Thanks for not bailing on me DN & Mr. Van Dort - and joining me on my first ever runs! It was a tough weekend, but we made it through together. One for the history books :) And yes, I will have to take a break because my left heel is STILL hurting...from May. Right knee is a bit swollen but manageable. So time to take it easy - I figured I'll have to since I'll be jetting off to Taipei this week and Glasgow next week. But no excuses, I will make time to stay healthy :) Can't say I'm ready for another run any time soon, but you never know.
Until my next challenge, peace.