People crowding, all around. Insignificant people. The only thing on my mind was getting the baton from Calvin and running along. In my haste, I forgot to hyperventilate to reduce the CO2 in my lungs like Caryn said, but I was off and running, or rather, jogging, before I realised it. At that time I also realised that I wasn't breathing properly and started forcing myself to take regular deep breaths. In, 2, 3, out, 2, 3... Leaving the noisy crowd of people behind, the world became quiet - only the pounding of my feet on the asphalt and the whoosh of my breathing accompanied me. It all seemed like a leisurely jog in the park. Then my brain started its questioning - is my pace fast enough? Is the person behind me catching up? Shush!! My brain then decided that I need a song to keep time to my pace, and it latched on to the first tune it thought of - Amazing Grace. Go figure.
Rounding the bend towards the first checkpoint my calf muscles started to protest a bit against their constant use. Shush!! Amazing Grace went out of my head too as I rounded the checkpoint and started up the inclined road. Move, legs, move! Breathe, lungs, breathe! Metre by metre I inched back to the starting point, and as I came towards the confluence of people again, I heard my name being called out. Trisha and Gowri, on my right. Others on my right. And although my legs were now grumbling incessantly against the ordeal of lactic acid I was putting them through I felt buoyed on, ready to run towards the next checkpoint.
Rounding another bend, I saw another competitor in front. She stopped briefly to walk, then pushed on by her friends' cheers she took up to jogging again. I resisted the urge to walk too, and made her my target. Go on, you can pass her! I passed the second checkpoint and I saw that she'd stopped - an easy target for me. In a few long-drawn seconds, I passed her and started up on the road to the third checkpoint - the hardest steepest part of the course. As I forged on, up the hill, my legs threatened to stage a sit-down protest. Shush!!! Up I go, increasing my breathing rhythm to match the increased O2 demand from my starving muscles. Finally I reached the checkpoint and headed downwards again. Going downward should have been easy, but on wobbly legs keeping your pace is key if you don't want to roll down. Yet the end was tantalisingly near. Without knowing it, or even realising I had the strength to, I had increased my pace, and was now in a full-flight run towards to finishing line. Getting nearer now - Faiz was at the line, getting ready to receive the baton. Closer and closer... My legs felt like they couldn't hold up the pace anymore, but closer I got. Then it was over. I didn't know how the baton got into Faiz's hand but it did, and he was off, and I was done. Lungs afire, gasping for air, legs feeling like lead. But I did it - I ran the road race, all grueling 1.5km+ of it.
We, the Sem 3 team of Calvin Jit, me, Faiz, Sien Hui, and Eugene, managed to eke out 4th placing. Kudos to all of you! Sem 5 got 1st placing, but that's predictable, what with international triathletes and marathon runners in their team.
Other news:
Volleyball - Aliaa served a whopping 25 times to present a convincing 25-0 2nd set, and match, win over the Sem 1s. A sedate game, with many of the other players barely touching the ball. Next match - Sunday 4:00pm.
Football - The guys whooped Sem 2 3-0. 3 for Sem 3! Women's futsal - Monday evening.
Basketball - The Sem 2 rough-and-tough women's team start playing tomorrow. I'm sort of glad I'm not playing - apparently one Sem 1 girl, Elaine, fractured her finger in a match. *shiver*
Okay, enough break from studying. Back to ole Haemato and blood disorders.
By the way, the above quote is from the old old movie Chariots of Fire and after watching that, I think of that quote everytime I run. Or jog.
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2 comments:
Hey, I know that quote! A friend of mine used it in his talk to illustrate how we use our gifts to glorify God... He adapted his to "and when I think, I feel His pleasure." Mine was "I talk. I talk a lot. And when I talk, I feel His pleasure." Gee, you sure running is yours, Grace? God mightn't be pleased, but He'd definitely be amused :)
hehe you're right, he'd be amused. But I never said running was my thing. hmm... I don't really know what it is... it'll have to be given some thought...
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