Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Run Forrest Run

My legs have a name, it is Kaki Bangku. And they are named Kaki Bangku for valid reasons; metaphoric and physical.

Dont get me wrong. I dont just love sports, i am passionate about it. From a girl sports like netball all the way to raw sports like rugby and gentleman's cricket, i am an avid fan. I read the newspaper from back to front and i subscribe to the sports channel. I stayed up during the world cups and olympics and what nots. Seriously, I have not one but three pairs of track bottom and lots and lots of football jersies. I have tennis skirts and even sports bra. If that doesnt tell you how much i like sports, i dont know how else to convince you.
The passion is there alright. It is genuine. No question there.

No one's fault that i am lousy at it. Somewhere in my genes, has my fate written down clearly, thou shalt have kaki bangku as legs.

I remember growing up longing to have at least one medal, or one trophy in sports. And how i longed to have 'the ball in my court'. God knows i have tried. Soon friends just grew tired of seeing me trying, and they stopped including me in. Never one to give up, i graced the spectator's area. I would be cheering them until i grew hoarse, but no, you could never keep me away from the fields.

Last week, there was a marathon thingy at my place. Looking at the poster, i saw that my age would be considered as 'veteran', and as 'veteran' i would ONLY have to run 10kms. i thought to myself, maybe marathon would be my thing. I have failed miserably in games, if the game has anything to do with balls then i would be painful for you to watch.. and for me to be. Marathon has nothng to do with balls and bats and racquets, and it wasnt like short distance where you would need the right anatomy. Marathon is all about willpower, stamina, determination. Something that i could pull, or so i thought. And how difficult could 10 kms be? And so, against other people's advice, i registered. And made my husband registered too.

Come the big day. We woke up late and arrived at the stadium just in time before they flag us off. No warming up, no stretching, no breath in-out-and-push. We ran. Husband was in the Open category, he had to do 15km. I swear i smiled all the way. I ran the first 3km non-stop, smiling all the way, my heart was light and i was really-truly enjoying the sweat, and the pain that creeped in. But i smiled, i was in sports-heaven. National runner completed the race in less than one hour, i completed mine in 2 hours. Did i win anything? Of course not.

My husband lost a toe nail and swore he would make a syariah case out of that one, haha. He completed his 15km in 3 hours, so i figured we were at it at about the same speed, 5km/hr (i know, i know, you could crawl at 5km/hour, but this is me we are taking about).

Three days after the run, my knee started to swell and i am today still walking with a crutch. My FIRST sports injury, and i am all bandaged up and smelled like a true veteran, minyak angin and all. I groan and go adoi with each step that i make, but you know what, i feel like a winner!

Marathon runner i am.

4 Comments:

Blogger Kak Teh said...

I can almost hear Chariots of Fire in the air!! Well done. I can only claim to winning Scrabbles although sometimes I admit that I cheat. I even cheat at congkak when the children are not looking. So, there! I swear that I have more muscles in my fingers than anywhere else..(or are they ganglions?) Never mind! keep on blogging!

5:08 AM  
Blogger Kak Teh said...

Write, Forrest, Write!

6:50 PM  
Blogger OOD said...

Kak Teh! I know i know (earnestly angkat tangan to answer), u work for Blog company and you get commission ka, discount cards ka, vouchers ka, whenever we post up something (or u just get pahala for motivating people to do good)! Hah! I am SO smart! Wink!

kak Teh, i havent had the time to sit and write this week (IRS deadline soon), but i am inspired, blogging is consistently occupying my mind, time tidoq pon mimpi!

6:50 PM  
Blogger Kak Teh said...

ish! kak teh pun tak ada masa nak update - so, am going round kacau orang saja - kerja sendiri tak jalan. btw , how did u know i work for blog company??? hehe - so, for every blog i inspire dapat bonus??? best , gitu!

1:23 AM  

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