I am running in the rain ...

Or to be more precise, I was running in the rain this morning. It was for the Terry Fox run. There was one in Kuala Lumpur too and I hope they had clear weather.

I got up at six when the sky was not even light and was quite excited about the whole thing, as it would be my first run in Singapore.

As we were queieng at the bus interchange to get to Sentosa, the island where the run was to be held, there was a light drizzle. It got worse when we arrived there.

Oh, I was there with my colleague WS and his friend, and his friend's friend.

As we alighted from the bus and walked towareds the starting point, I left my colleague and friends and joined another friend, LP, who was waiting with a female friend, under a shelter.

To cut a long story short, I am not thrilled about getting myself wet in the rain. The usual warnings came to mind, like getting ill, slipping on the wet surface and falling. Other downsides appeared too, like I didn't bring a change of clothes, my shoes and socks were going to be wet (which is different from a wet shirt, because the moist feeling around the feet is just ... well, different and I can't possibly walk bare-footed but bare-chested is OK, geddit?)

The race started anyway and WS and his friends ran.

So there I was, wondering what should I do?

On one hand, LP and his friend have decided to not run, unless the rain becomes a drizzle. And it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon.

On the other, there were like so many others who ran and it did look kinda fun to run in the rain. I mean, running in the rain has not killed or hurt anybody, right?

Besides, I have never done this before. At least, I don't remember having done it. And it is consistent with my motto of "Do everything once."

So I found myself joining the other runners.

The rain did not let up and at the end of the race, I was completely soaked from head to toe.

That was the first significant thing.

The second was, I managed to complete the race! Not that 9km is a daunting distance or anything like that, but I have only started to run again last month. I have stopped for the eight months, as the scar from the surgery still hurts sometimes.

Traning was like 5 kilometers a week, for the past three weeks.

Even though I walked for the last kilometer because of a cramp in my butt upper thigh, I still finished the whole thing in slightly more than an hour. It's not excellent timing, but according to WL, it's quite commendable based on the traning I have done.

Yay, so proud!

Now, I just gotta pray that tomorrow I don't fall ill or hobble like I have been fucked.

Last but not least, there were like so many hotties around! I can tell that quite a number are real runners, as in they regularly take part in marathons and triathlons, from the way they run and their slim legs. Runners aren't too muscular and usually tanned (heck, many male specimens here are tanned! LOL), so they were perfect eye-candy all the way from the starting to finishing line.

I thought we were going to have breakfast after the run, but nope, WL and friends wanted to go back home.

On a related note, I bought a pair of shoes yesterday. A pair of New Balance running shoes, which cost SGD146 (RM340). I was just searching online for a picture of it and I came across the price.

The cheapest I saw is USD120, which is about SGD190, from a site that listed the lowest to the highest price available online. Highest is USD135.

Another yay, for the good deal I got!

If I was still working in KL, the shoes would have cost me about 15% of my salary, or more, and that would be the only shopping done for the month.

In case some of you are scoffing at my choice for New Balance instead of Nike or Adidas, there is a very good reason. Singapore is has a lot of people who are into healthy living and exercise, especially running. There are more amenities here for running than in KL.

From what I have heard, the leading running shoes brand are Asics and New Balance. This was confirmed by the shoe salesman too. I was WS yesterday and he bought a pair of Asics running shoes for his upcoming marathon in December.

Running is a very high impact sport, thus getting the right pair of shoes with the right cushioning and stability are important.

Anyway, this is the pair that I bought, the M1222SG, which apparently is a new model with many high-tech features and is selling pretty well.



I am going to wear it the next time I run ;P

As I finished typing this, the rain has just stopped.