Got Pain, Lots of Gain

Here's a quick question for you, "How far would you go for pain?"

Clueless? Haha... I know that question doesn't seem food related somehow, but it actually does.

So how far have you gone? I've gone the entire 42.195km stretch of pain, and last Sunday, I completed half of that. So thankfully the pain was only a fraction of what I experienced last December.

And as my friend told me, "Crossing the finish is the best reward for all that pain", which I couldn't agree more.

Pain. You know what they all say, "No Pain, No Gain".

But it does seem insane doesn't it - to submit myself to such 'torture'. But I don't deem it as such. It's satisfying in a weird sort of way. Sure, it sounds sadistic, but it's just a personal achievement that I like to obtain. Besides, nothing beats a good hearty meal after it.

I really don't know what made me love running so much. When I think about it, I remember myself watching Forrest Gump countless times and thinking what it'll be like if I could run and as long as him!

However, the only running I did then was at Sports Day (I'd try the 100m sprints) and the compulsory 2.4km we had to complete for our physical fitness. It was only around 2002 I think, that I started running on a regular basis, and at a longer distance too. That was purely for leisure and haha, yes, keeping fit. Come on, you seriously don't think that I am able to eat so much and not exercise? Besides, nothing beats the endorphin high one gets after a good run.

As much as I enjoy food, I know that what's important is eating in moderation. Too much of a good thing can be bad for you as well.

Food isn't evil, it's just humans who make it so, sometimes. Think trans fat and you know what I mean. haha.

So if you haven't already been exercising, start now! Run! Jog! Cycle! Just get on your feet and do something - it'll benefit you in the long run, trust me.

Trust me, once you get started, you'll love it so much and you'll feel more energetic. I remembered the first time I joined a formal running event last year... the New Balance Real Run. It felt so good and I've never looked back since. I just ran my 2nd army half marathon and I am doing the full marathon (Standard Chartered Bank) again this year. No, I'm not crazy, I'm just insanely enthusiastic about running. :)

I advise you to sign up with a couple of friends and run together; moral support is always good while running. Last Sunday, I had JF and Pat who ran with me. Yea, JF is a fast runner but he was sweet enough to purposely slow down and keep with my (less than ideal) pace.

After the run, we went to Marina Square to eat breakfast and I had mee rebus. Pat ordered popiah too and it was really black. Erm, not completely, but it was darker than normal popiahs then when I popped a piece into my mouth, I knew why - there was so much dark sauce. But it tasted good. Each piece held well too - didn't fall apart when I picked it up.

We went home after that and you wouldn't believe where JF and I went in the evening...

I know we're supposed to be resting our feet and probably sleep (we woke up at 3am for the run! it started at 5:30am) but oh no.... we had to go for:

WOMAD!

Yep, a.k.a. World of Music and Dance is a music festival that takes place in various countries and Singapore has one every year as well. It was at the lovely Fort Canning Park and I brought my mat so we could sit comfortably on the grass patch. And I want to rave also, about some healthy chips we tried:



Yes yes, brown rice and black beans don't sound too appetising but hey they're good for you. I was really curious at how these would taste like so we got it and I tell you, we were hooked. I think it's also the fact that we felt less guilty eating these so we had no qualms wolfing it down. It made for a nice munchy crunchy snack.

So there, what a Sunday I had! And I had classes early morning yesterday - I had to rely on coffee to make sure I stay alert, besides my classmate and I had a presentation. We chose to talk about trans fat. Now, that's not surprising is it? :) I'll probably talk about it in another post but here's a nice link to scare you a bit: www.bantransfat.com

Time to go. Got lots of readings to do!